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THE    BIBLE    AND    ENGLISH 
PROSE    STYLE 


Selections   anti   Conimrnts 


EDITED    WITH  A.\   INTRODUCTION 


ALBERT   S.    COOK 


FOLCROFT  LIBRAE  Y  EDITIONS  /  1971 


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Limited  to  150  Copies 


THE    BIBLE    AND    ENGLISH 
PROSE   STYLE 


Selections   anti   Comments 


EDITED    WITH  AX   INTRODUCTION 


ALBERT   S.    COOK 

rROFESSOR    OF   THE   ENGLISH    l^NGUAGE  AND    UTKRATLKE 
IN    VALE    UNIVERSITY 


iXUi^^  j_     (jc>-r%. 


BOSTON.    U.S.A. 

PUBLISHED    BY    I).   C.    HEATH    &   CO. 

1892 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1892,  by 

ALBERT  S.   COOK, 
in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


Typography  by  J.  S.  Cishing  &  Co.,  Boston,  U.S.A. 
Prssswork  by  Berwick  &  Smith,  Boston,  U.S.A. 


TO 

MY    FRIENDS 
AND    SOMETIME    FELLOW-WORKERS 

THE    ENGLISH    TEACHERS   OF   CALIFORNIA 


CONTENTS. 


rACE 

INTROPI'CTION ix 

Illustrative  Comments xxvii 

Importance  of  the  Bible  to  the  StU'lent  of  F.nj^hsh xxvii 

English  Imitators  of  Biblical  Language xxxv 

The  King  Tames  Version xxxvii 

Rhetorical  Features  of  Biblical  Language ....  xliii 

Rhythm  of  the  Bible 1 

Biblical   Style   and   Language   (."ontrasted    with    those  of  Western 

Nations lix 

Biblical  Selectio.ns i 

Exodus  15 I 

Exodus  20 3 

Deuteronomy  32 5 

2  Samuel  i .  1 7-27 9 

I  Kings  8 .  .    .  10 

Psalm  23 16 

Psalm  32 16 

Psalm  90 17 

Psalm  91 1 8 

Psalm    103 -        19 

Psalm   112    21 

Psalm  119 21 

Psalm    1 39 32 

Proverbs  2 ^^ 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PACE 

Biblical  Selections —  Continued. 

Proverbs  3   34 

Proverbs  8 3^ 

Proverbs  12 39 

Isaiah  58 4° 

Matthew  5 42 

Matthew  6 45 

Matthew  7 4^ 

The  Acts  26 50 

I   Corinthians   13 5^ 

I   Corinthians   15 53 

James  4 57 

Revelation  5 5^ 

Revelation  6 ^ 


THE  BIBLE  AND  ENGLISH   PROSE   STYLE 


INTRODUCTION. 


ol^c 


To  enrich  and  ennoble  the  language  of  a  race  is  to  enrich  and 
ennoble  the  sentiments  of  every  man  who  has  the  command 
of  that  language.  This  process  of  enrichment  and  ennoblement  has 
been  going  on  in  English  for  nearly  thirteen  hundred  years,  and  one 
of  the  chief  agencies  by  which  it  has  been  effected  is  the  influence, 
direct  and  indirect,  of  the  Bible.  The  first  coherent  words  of  Eng- 
lish speech  which  have  been  transmitted  to  us  are  in  a  species  of 
verse  which  suggests,  though  somewhat  remotely,  the  rhythms  and 
parallelisms  of  Hebrew  poetry  ;  they  constitute  a  hymn  of  praise  ^ 

^  I  subjoin  this  most  ancient  specimen  of  English  : 

Nu  scylun  hergan  hefaenricaes  uanl, 

metiidaes  maecti  end  his  modgidanc, 

uerc  uuldurfadur;  sue  he  uundra  gilmaes, 

eci  dryctin,  or  astelida;. 

He  aerist  scop  aelda  barnum 

heben  til  hrofe,  haleg  scepen. 

Tha  middungeard,  moncynnaes  uard, 

eci  dryctin,  a-fter  tiada?, 

firum  foldu,  frea  allmectig. 

Which  may  be  literally  translated  (case-signs  in  Italics)  : 

Now  [we]  shall  glorify  heaven-kingdom's  Warden, 
Creator's  might  and  his  mood-thought  [sc.  counsel] 
Work  [or,  works]  o/  the  Glory-father;  as  he  of  wonders  of  each  \^c.  of  each 

of  wonders,  of  every  wonder], 
Eternal  Lord,  [the]  beginning  established. 

He  erst  shaped  ^/men/c'r  the  children  \sc.  for  the  children  of  men] 
Heaven  to  \sc.  for]  roof,  holy  Shaper  \sc.  Creator] . 
Ttien  Midgard  \ic.  the  earth],  mankind's  Warden, 
Eternal  Lord,  after  prepared. 
For  men  [the]  earth,  Lord  almighty. 


X  INTR  OD  UC  TION. 

which  includes  a  paraphrastic  rendering  of  the  first  verse  of 
Genesis,  and  whose  diction  throughout  is  colored  by  Scriptural 
reminiscences.  A  single  word  will  suffice  to  illustrate  the  state- 
ment last  made.  This  word  is  contained  in  the  first  line  of  Casd- 
mon's  Hymn,  and  in  its  ancient  spelling  appears  as  hefaenricaes. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  hefaenricaes  ?  In  modern  English  it  would 
appear  as  heaveriric's,  the  possessive  of  heavenric,  a  word  which 
would  be  akin  in  formation  to  bishopric.  The  first  element  of  the 
compound  is  easily  distinguished  ;  the  second  (identical  with  the 
German  Reich)  means  kingdom.  Hence  the  expression  as  a  whole 
is  (except  for  the  final  s,  the  sign  of  the  genitive)  the  equivalent 
of  the  phrase  so  common  in  Matthew's  Gospel,  but  found  nowhere 
else  in  the  Scriptures,  the  kifigdom  of  heaven,  or,  more  literally,  of 
the  heavens.  With  this  New  Testament  phrase  may  be  contrasted 
another  which  owes  its  origin  to  the  Old  Testament.  Such  an  one 
occurs  in  the  fifth  line  of  the  Hymn,  as  aelda  barnum,  signifying 
for  the  children  of  men.  From  no  other  conceivable  source  could 
this  idiom  have  been  derived  except  from  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament.  It  occurs  several  times  in  the  Psalms,  as  well 
as  sporadically  in  Genesis,  Proverbs,  and  other  books.  That  it 
should  have  originated  among  the  English  themselves  is  highly 
improbable,  and  there  is  no  other  language  in  which  it  is  known 
to  occur  save  as  a  translation  or  adaptation  from  the  Hebrew. 
The  conclusion  already  propounded  is  therefore  the  only  one 
which  it  is  possible  to  admit. 

From  Caedmon's  time  to  the  present  the  influence  of  Bible  dic- 
tion upon  English  speech  has  been  virtually  uninterrupted.  The 
I^atin  of  Bede,  like  that  of  all  the  later  Fathers  of  the  Church,  is 
saturated  with  its  pecuHarities.  To  them  the  Vulgate  was  not 
merely  a  treasury  of  fact  and  wisdom,  but  a  norm  of  speech.  The 
Christian  poetry  antecedent  to  the  Conquest  exhibits  a  curious 
blending  of  ancient  Germanic  with  Hebraic  idiom,  to  which  must 
be  added  a  few  Latin  elements.  The  prose  of  Alfred  and  ^Ifric 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  powerfully  affected  by  the  books 
which  they  were  constantly  obliged  to  quote  or  imitate.  At  inter- 
vals during  the  Old  English  period,  translations  were  made  from 


IXTRODUCriON.  xi 

the  Gospels,  the  Psahns,  and  other  portions  of  the  Scriptures. 
Bede  was  at  work  on  a  rendering  of  John's  (Jospel  when  he  died, 
and  more  than  two  centuries  later  new  versions,  or  recensions  of 
older  versions,  were  seeing  the  light.  Theological  activity,  far 
from  ceasing  at  the  Conijuest,  was  rather  stimulated  into  new  and 
more  vigorous  life.  The  era  of  cathedral  building  began,  and 
much  about  the  same  time  the  first  Miracle  Plays  must  have  been 
written.  The  tradition  continues  through  such  men  as  Orm, 
Richard  of  Hampole,  and  Langland,  until  we  reach  Wyclif — not 
even  Chaucer  lying  outside  its  pale.  From  Wyclif  to  our  own 
day  the  line  is  again  unbroken.  Who  needs  to  be  reminded  of 
Tyndale,  of  Latimer,  of  Cromwell  and  his  Puritans,  of  Bunyan, 
Addison,  and  Wesley?  'i"he  liible  has  been  an  active  force  in 
English  literature  for  over  twelve  hundred  years,  and  during  that 
whole  period  it  has  been  molding  the  diction  of  representative 
thinkers  and  literary  artists.  Forced  into  rivalry  with  other 
models,  it  has  struggled  against  them,  —  now  vanquished  for  the 
moment,  now  sharing  with  its  competitors  the  trophies  of  con- 
quest, and  now  sole  master  of  the  field,  yet  always  most  powerful 
when  the  national  life  was  most  intense,  and  scarcely  ever  so 
baffled  but  that  some  signs  of  its  authority  are  manifest. 

Before  considering  the  nature  of  the  plastic  influence  which  the 
Bible  has  exercised  upon  P^nglish  style,  it  may  be  well  to  remind 
ourselves  of  some  of  the  more  obvious  ways  in  which  Scriptural 
language  has  been  appropriated  by  English  writers.  Of  these  the 
most  important  are  direct  quotation  and  allusion. 

Under  the  head  of  direct  quotation  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
include  the  use  made  of  Scripture  in  sermons  and  theological 
treatises  ;  it  will  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  its  occasional  employment 
by  secular  writers  to  produce  the  effect  of  impressiveness  or 
pathos.  This  effect  has  been  aptly  characterized  in  the  current 
number  of  an  American  periodical,  by  an  author  *  whom  I  rejoice 
to  call  my  friend.  His  words  are,  "  A  felicitous  use  of  Scriptural 
quotations,  with  the  solemn  dignity  of  their  style  and  feeling, 
brings  us  with  our  narrow  cares  into  the  presence  of  past  ages, 
1  Rev.  Frederic  Palmer,  in  the  Andover  Uninv  for  .\pril,  1892. 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

and  raises  the  individual  from  his  soUtariness  into  union  with  man 
everywhere,  with  the  infinite  and  the  eternal." 

This  truth  is  akin  to  that  recognized  by  Shakespeare  and  the 
great  dramatists  of  antiquity,  that  tragedy  requires  the  occasional 
introduction  of  the  aphorism  or  gnomic  sentence.  The  same 
principle  holds  in  prose,  though  perhaps  its  application  is  here 
somewhat  more  limited.  John  Morley  perceives  its  validity  when 
he  says  of  Burke  :  "  Burke  will  always  be  read  with  delight  and  edi- 
fication, because  in  the  midst  of  discussions  on  the  local  and  the 
accidental  he  scatters  apothegms  that  take  us  into  the  regions  of 
lasting  wisdom.  In  the  midst  of  the  torrent  of  the  most  strenuous 
and  passionate  deliverances,  he  suddenly  rises  aloof  from  his  im- 
mediate subject,  and  in  all  tranquillity  reminds  us  of  some  perma- 
nent relation  of  things,  some  enduring  truth  of  human  life  or 
society."  '  If  a  writer  is  sufficient  for  the  coinage  of  his  own  max- 
ims, it  may  in  general  be  best  that  he  should  confine  himself  to 
these,  especially  where  it  is  the  pure  intellect  that  is  addressed ; 
but  if  the  sensibility  is  to  be  touched  as  well,  a  felicitous  use  of 
Scriptural  phraseology  will  hardly  fail  to  stir  the  deepest  springs 
of  emotion.  Who  has  not  been  thrilled,  even  to  tears,  by  the 
organ  note  struck  at  the  euthanasia  of  Sydney  Carton  ? 

She  kisses  his  lips;  he  kisses  hers;  they  solemnly  bless  each  other.  The 
spare  hand  does  not  tremble  as  he  releases  it;  nothing  worse  than  a  sweet, 
bright  constancy  is  in  the  patient  face.  She  goes  next  before  him —  is  gone; 
the  knitting-women  count  Twenty-two. 

/  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  saith  the  Lord ;  he  that  believeth  in 
me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  ;  and  whosever  liveth  and  believeth 
in  me  shall  never  die. 

The  murmuring  of  many  voices,  the  upturning  of  many  faces,  the  pressing 
on  of  many  footsteps  in  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  so  that  it  swells  forward 
in  a  mass,  like  one  great  heave  of  water,  all  flashes  away.     Twenty-three. 

They  said  of  him,  about  the  city  that  night,  that  it  was  the  peacefulest  man's 
face  ever  beheld  there.     Many  added  that  he  looked  sublime  and  prophetic. 

We  might  be  tempted  to  believe  that  the  emotion  was  created 
by  the  circumstances,  or  by  Dickens'  exquisite  art  in  the  shap- 

^  See  also  Aristotle's  Rhetoric,  Bk.  2,  chap.  21. 


IX'J'RODVCTION.  xiii 

ing  of  his  own  sentences  ;   but  read  the  final  chapter  without  the 
Scripture  words,  and  the  difference  will  be  readily  appreciated. 

Akin  to  direct  quotation,  but  not  identical  Avith  it,  is  the  height- 
ening of  style  through  the  employment  of  Biblical  allusion.  An 
instance  of  remote  allusion  is  given  by  Payne,  among  the  com- 
ments which  follow.'  A  more  palpable  one  is  supplied  by  an 
apostrophe  near  the  end  of  Shelley's  Defense  of  Poetry. 

Their  errors  have  been  weighed  and  found  to  have  been  dust  in  the  bal- 
ance; if  their  sins  were  as  scarlet,  they  are  now  white  as  snow;  they  have 
been  washed  in  the  l)lood  of  the  mediator  and  redeemer,  Time.  Observe  in 
what  a  ludicrous  chaos  the  imputations  of  real  or  fictitious  crime  have  been 
confused  in  the  contemporary  calumnies  against  poetry  and  poets;  consider 
how  little  is  as  it  appears  —  or  appears  as  it  is;  look  to  your  own  motives, 
and  judge  not,  lest  ye  be  judged. 

Here  there  are  no  fewer  than  seven  Biblical  sentences  woven 
into  a  tissue  all  palpitating  with  generous  sympathy  and  generous 
indignation. 

Similar  effects  are  often  to  be  noted  in  j)oetry.  Thus  from  the 
close  of  Aurora  Leigh  : 

He  turned  instinctively,  —  where,  faint  and  far, 
.'Mong  the  tingling  desert  of  the  sky, 
Beyond  the  circle  of  the  conscious  hills, 
Were  laid  in  jasper-stone  as  clear  as  glass 
The  first  foundations  of  that  now,  near  Day 
Which  should  be  builded  out  of  heaven  to  (iod. 

Or  from  Longfellow's  Interlude  before  the  Theologian  s  Tale : 

Not  to  one  church  alone,  but  seven, 

The  voice  prophetic  spake  from  heaven; 

.'\nd  unto  each  the  jiroinise  came, 

l)iversitied,  but  still  the  same; 

For  him  that  uvercometh   are 

The  new  name  \sritten  on  the  stone. 

The  raiment  white,  the  crown,  the  throne, 

.■\nd  I  will  give  liim  the  Morning  Star  1 

But  our  concern  is  with   prose,  not   poetry-,  and   in   prose   there 
arc  all  grades  and   settings   of  allusion,  down  to  the  sheerest  flip- 

^  Sc"  p    xxx^  i. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

pancy,  even  the  latter  testifying,  through  its  very  irreverence,  to 
the  arrowy  momentum  and  tenacity  of  these  winged  words. 

As  instances  of  an  average  sort  of  allusion,  remarkable  neither 
for  elevation  nor  smartness,  I  select  two  or  three  from  a  single 
volume  of  Matthew  Arnold's  essays  (the  italics  are  mine). 

He  [Wordsworth]  is  one  of  the  very  chief  glories  of  English  Poetry;  and 
by  nothing  is  England  so  glorious  as  by  her  j)oetry.  Let  us  lay  aside  every 
7veighl  which  hinders  our  getting  him  recognized  as  this. 

What  we  have  of  Shelley  in  poetry  and  prose  suited  with  this  charming 
picture  of  him;  Mrs.  Shelley's  account  suited  with  it;  it  was  a  possession 
which  one  would  gladly  have  kept  unimpaired.  It  still  subsists,  I  must  now 
add;  it  subsists  even  after  one  has  read  the  present  biography;  it  subsists, 
but  so  as  by  fire. 

It  [society]  looked  in  Byron's  glass  as  it  looks  in  Lord  Beaconsfield's,  and 
sees,  or  fancies  that  it  sees,  its  own  face  there ;  and  then  it  goes  its  way,  and 
straightway  forgets  what  manner  of  man  it  saw. 

When  a  writer,  with  a  native  vigor,  lightness,  and  rapidity  of 
his  own,  has  become  wholly  permeated,  as  it  were,  with  the 
thought  and  diction  of  the  Bible,  so  that  he  has  acquired  its  tone 
and  manner,  and  yet  kept  himself  above  the  condition  of  the  mere 
servile  and  mechanical  copyist,  we  have  from  him  such  a  clear, 
simple,  and  picturesque  style  as  that  of  Bunyan.  Such  writing  has 
an  archaic  flavor,  yet  is  intelligible  to  the  meanest  capacity  ;  may 
be  full  of  quotation,  yet  perfectly  assimilates  all  that  it  quotes  ; 
abounds  in  allusion  which  it  never  degrades  ;  but  is  best  in  that  it 
seems  to  have  drawn  from  the  same  perennial  fountains  as  the 
Bible  itself,  instead  of  merely  standing  to  it  in  a  dependent  and 
derivative  relation.  One  or  two  familiar  extra(*ts  from  Bunyan 
will  serve  as  illustrations. 

As  I  walked  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world,  I  lighted  on  a  certain 
place,  where  was  a  Den;  and  I  laid  me  down  in  that  place  to  sleep  :  and  as  I 
slept  I  dreamed  a  Dream.  I  dreamed,  and  behold  I  saw  a  man  clothed  with 
Rags,  standing  in  a  certain  place,  with  his  face  from  his  own  House,  a  Book 
in  his  hand,  and  a  great  burden  upon  his  back.  I  looked,  and  saw  him  open 
the  book,  and  read  therein;  and  as  he  read,  he  wept  and  trembled;  and  not 
being  able  longer  to  contain,  he  brake  out  with  a  lamentable  cry,  saying, 
What  shaU  I  do  ? 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

Now  I  saw  in  my  Dream  that  these  two  men  went  in  at  the  Gate;  and  lo, 
as  they  entered,  they  were  transfigured,  and  they  had  Raiment  put  on  that 
shone  like  Gold.  There  were  also  that  met  them  with  Harps  and  Crowns, 
and  gave  them  to  them,  the  Harp  to  praise  withal,  and  the  Crowns  in  token  of 
honor.  Then  I  heard  in  my  Dream  that  all  the  Bells  in  the  City  Rang  again 
for  joy,  and  that  it  was  said  unto  them.  Enter  ye  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord.  I 
also  heard  the  men  themselves,  that  they  sang  with  a  loud  voice,  saying, 
Blessing,  Honor,  Glory,  and  Power  be  to  Him  that  sitteth  upon  the  Throne, 
and  to  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever. 

In  such  examples  as  these  we  can  study  the  Biblical  style  to 
better  advantage,  perhap.s,  than  in  the  Bible  itself.  While  preserv- 
ing the  essential  qualities  of  Hebraic  diction,  Bunyan  presents 
them  at  one  remove  from  antiquity  and  its  aloofness.  Bunyan  is 
a  man  of  our  own  race,  living  but  yesterday,  as  it  were,  in  com- 
parison with  the  centuries  which  separate  us  from  the  authors  of 
the  Bible.  Moreover,  in  studying  Bunyan  we  are  not  only  study- 
ing Biblical  style  in  English,  but  we  are  studying  English  itself  at 
an  epoch  when,  according  to  one  of  the  most  accomplished  of 
foreign  critics,  it  reached  its  best  estate.  Let  us  hear  what  Ville- 
main  has  to  say  upon  this  topic.  The  time  he  is  speaking  of  is  the 
Restoration,  and  of  it  he  affirms  : '  "  English  idiom  then  attained 
its  happiest  epoch  ;  it  was  taking  on  refinement  without  becoming 
impoverished  ;  it  still,  like  the  ancient  Northern  languages,  had 
its  whole  rich  supply  of  native,  energetic,  concise  expressions. 
With  these  it  had  blended  a  strong  tincture  of  Biblical  imagination. 
Besides,  though  it  appropriated  in  passing  many  French  words,  it 
only  employed  them,  so  to  speak,  as  proper  names  and  fashionable 
phrases,  and  in  no  respect  changed  the  primitive  originality  of  its 
exact  and  elliptical  constructions,  and  the  energy  of  its  numberless 
metaphors.  In  this  respect  it  did  not  model  itself  upon  less  regu- 
lar and  less  poetic  tont^ies  ;  it  remained  in  possession  of  its  own 
physiognomy  and  of  all  its  vigor." 

We  now  appr>..ich  our  subject  ])ri-pcr.  What  is  the  literary 
quality  which  thi,'  Hible  j>ussesscs,  and  %'.i;;ch  il  h.i-  ther-frrc  been 
communicatini;  tc^  English  for  nearly  tliiriceii  hr.;  ,;?     In 

1  Tdhltau  lU  U  HUiraturt  au  XVIII'  Sticle,  \.  88. 


xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

asking  this  question,  we  refer  to  the  Bible  as  if  it  were  a  single 
book,  instead  of  being,  as  its  very  name  signifies,  a  collection  of 
books,  each  with  its  own  peculiarities,  and  differing  as  widely  as 
an  impassioned  lyric  from  a  mere  genealogy,  as  the  detached 
aphorisms  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs  from  the  intricate  arguments 
of  the  Epistles  by  Paul.  But  the  term  is  convenient,  and,  after 
all,  there  is  little  danger  of  misunderstanding.  Every  one  recog- 
nizes the  main  characteristics  of  Bible  diction  in  general,  though 
he  may  never  have  been  at  the  pains  to  define  to  himself  just 
what  those  characteristics  are.  To  my  mind  they  may  be  summed 
up  in  a  very  brief  phrase.  Whatever  their  number  or  variety,  I 
think  they  may  all  be  comprehended  under  a  single  term,  noble 
naturalness. 

But  the  phrase,  noble  naturalness,  may  be  vague  enough  to 
stand  in  need  of  further  definition.  By  *  natural '  in  its  application 
to  men  and  women,  and  the  books  which  concern  men  and  women, 
I  mean  *  conformable  to  human  nature,'  and  by  '  unnatural,'  '  con- 
trary to  human  nature,  either  in  whole  or  in  part.'  Human  nature 
may,  for  this  purpose,  be  regarded  as  made  up  of  sensibility,  intellect, 
imagination,  and  will.  A  book  whose  arguments  are  an  insult  to 
intelligence  is  unnatural ;  but  so  is  also,  in  some  sense,  a  book 
which  does  not  address  the  intellect  at  all.  The  latter  sort  of  book 
may  be  called  unnatural  through  defect.  With  this  qualification,  no 
book  can  be  said  to  be  thoroughly  natural  which  does  not  address 
the  whole  man.  The  predominance  of  any  one  element  of  human 
nature  to  the  virtual  exclusion  of  the  rest  is  sufficient,  in  a  man  or 
a  book,  to  constitute  a  kind  of  unnaturalness.  It  is  in  this  sense, 
therefore,  that  the  Bible  possesses  eminent  naturalness,  as  I  shall 
attempt  to  show  more  at  length  in  the  sequel ;  and  if  to  this 
naturalness  be  added  an  accent  of  dignity  or  elevation,  the  prod- 
uct will  be  what  I  have  called  noble  naturalness. 

Matthew  Arnold  has  devoted  a  large  part  of  his  admirable  essay 
On  Translating  Homer  to  the  proof  and  elucidation  of  four  state- 
ments concerning  the  style  of  Homer.  In  one  place,  by  way  of 
summary,  he  says:  "Homer  is  rapid  in  his  movement.  Homer  is 
plain  in  his  words  and  style,  Homer  is  simple  in  his  ideas,  Homer 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

is  noble  in  his  manner."  An  expansion  of  his  thought  is  found  in 
another  passage,  as  follows  :  "  The  translator  of  Homer  should 
above  all  be  penetrated  by  a  sense  of  four  (jualities  of  his  author ; 
—  that  he  is  eminently  rapid;  that  he  is  eminently  plain  and  di- 
rect, both  in  the  evolution  of  his  thought  and  in  the  expression  of 
it,  that  is,  both  in  his  syntax  and  in  his  words ;  that  he  is  emi- 
nently plain  and  direct  in  the  substance  of  his  thought,  that  is,  in 
his  matter  and  ideas  ;  and  finally  that  he  is  eminently  noble." 

Let  us  assume  that  the  fact  is  as  Matthew  Arnold  alleges,  and 
that,  viewed  in  relation  to  most  authors.  Homer's  narrative  is  uni- 
formly rapid,  plain,  simple,  and  noble.  How  does  the  Homeric 
narrative  compare  in  these  respects  with  those  of  the  Bible?  Evi- 
tiently  it  is  with  respect  to  narrative  that  Homer  and  the  Bible 
should  be  compared,  if  they  are  compared  at  all,  for  it  is  this  de- 
partment of  literature  that  Homer  represents.  For  the  answer  to 
this  question  I  may  refer  to  Chateaubriand's  parallel  on  p.  Ixiii.  I 
do  this  with  the  more  confidence,  as  I  am  assured  by  my  colleague. 
Professor  vSeymour,  whose  authority  on  the  subject  of  Homer  is  not 
likely  to  be  impugned  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  that  Chateau- 
briand has  in  no  respect  misrepresented  the  Homeric  style,  and 
that  an  objection  on  this  score  cannot  be  made  to  lie  against  his 
paraphrase  of  the  verses  from  Ruth.  But,  leaving  Chateaubriand's 
parallel  out  of  consideration,  and  appealing  to  the  consciousness 
of  what  the  old  Morality  calls  Everyman,  did  any  one  ever  think 
a  New  Testament  parable  too  long,  too  involved,  or  too  mean? 
Did  any  one  ever  think  so  of  any  Gospel  narrative  whatever,  of 
the  Offering  of  Isaac  by  .Abraham,  or  the  Story  of  Joseph? 

Here,  then,  we  might  rest  the  claim  for  the  noble  natural- 
ness of  the  Biblical  style.  What  can  be  more  natural  than  that 
which,  without  demanding  conscious  effort,  calls  up  a  grateful 
echo  in  the  heart  of  cverv  man,  and  offends  no  one  by  the  excess 
of  any  quality  m  itself  good? 

But  to  pursue  the  subject  somewhat  further  into  detail.  I  have 
referred  above  to  a  division  of  human  nature  into  sensibility,  in- 
tellect, imagination,  and  will.  To  each  of  these  corresponds  a 
species  of  writing  which  is  addressed  to  it,  and  constitutes    its 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

aliment.  Thus  mathematics,  and  philosophy  viewed  in  one  aspect, 
appeal  chiefly  to  the  intellect ;  certain  kinds  of  poetry  affect 
almost  exclusively  the  sensibilities,  or  the  imagination,  or  both  con- 
jointly. Again,  exhortations  to  resolve  and  action  are  primarily 
directed  at  the  will,  though  they  may  call  in  the  aid  of  the  allied 
faculties.  French  critics,  particularly  those  of  the  classical  school, 
are  wont  to  assert  that  in  French  literature  the  intellect,  or  reason, 
is  supreme,  other  faculties  being  kept  in  strict  subordination  to 
this  one.  In  Carlyle,  on  the  other  hand,  we  might  say  that  the 
pure  intellect  is  somewhat  in  abeyance ;  in  much  of  Shelley's 
verse  that  both  the  intellect  and  the  will  are  comparatively  disre- 
garded. With  the  Bible  it  is  otherwise.  Speaking  broadly,  it  is 
pervaded  at  once  by  a  rational  element,  a  sensuous  element,  an 
imaginative  element,  and  an  animating  or  motive  element.  It  is 
the  union  of  these  in  due  proportions  which  constitutes  full  and 
perfect  naturalness,  and  such  union  we  have  in  many  parts  of  the 
Bible, 

The  Scriptures  everywhere  postulate  intellect  —  or  the  absence  of 
it ;  but  only  in  a  small  minority  of  instances  is  it  dealt  with  in 
what  may  be  called  the  way  of  argument,  or  reasoning.  There  is 
no  attempt  to  convert  men  from  their  errors  by  ratiocinative  or 
philosophical  processes.  A  right  state  of  mind  is  denoted  by  such 
words  as  understanding,  or  wisdom.  This  is  conceived  as  the  di- 
rect gift  of  God,  and  connotes  much  besides  clearness  of  intel- 
lectual vision.  To  the  perfection  of  wisdom  a  right  state  of  the 
will  and  affections  is  assumed  as  necessary,  and  thus  we  are  led 
back  to  a  consideration  of  human  nature  in  its  totality. 

The  presence  of  imagination  in  the  Bible  will  need  no  proof. 
Who  that  has  read  the  Psalms,  or  the  Prophets,  or  the  Apocalypse, 
can  doubt  it  for  a  moment  ?  And  who  will  have  any  more  hesita- 
tion in  recognizing  that  the  guidance  of  the  will  is  perhaps  the 
primary  purpose  which  underlies  history  and  precept,  proverb, 
hymn,  and  vision  of  seer? 

The  sensuous  element  is  perceptible  in  the  metaphoric  language 
and  in  the  rhythm.  However  lofty  or  sublime  be  the  sentiment, 
the   diction  is  concrete,  never  abstract.     Every  chapter  —  with 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 

comparatively  few  exceptions  —  is  a  gallery  of  word- pictures  ;  and 
it  is  this  picturesqueness  which  makes  the  Bible  always  attractive 
and  usually  intelligible.  To  the  great  bulk  of  readers  the  abstract 
is  identical  with  the  dry,  and  but  few  persons  could  be  won  to  a 
perusal,  much  less  imitation,  of  the  Bible,  were  it  couched  in  the 
phraseology  of  an  Aristotle.  The  picturesqueness  of  Scriptural 
language  addresses  the  mind's  eye  ;  its  simple,  regular,  natural 
harmony  addresses  the  ear.  Its  harmony  is  simple,  because  it  de- 
pends mainly  on  parallelism,  or,  as  it  has  been  called,  antiphony ; 
with  this  may  be  contrasted  the  intricate  symphonic  effects  of  a 
Pindaric  ode,  or  of  its  most  felicitous  imitations  in  English,  and, 
in  prose,  the  now  accelerated,  now  delayed  and  regressive  footing 
of  a  prolonged  Ciceronian  period.  It  is  regular,  because  the  ear, 
when  ever  so  Uttle  accustomed  to  it,  knows  just  what  to  expect. 
The  verses  fall  into  a  march-tune  ;  their  movement  is  disciplinary, 
first  of  the  emotions,  and  through  them  of  life  and  conduct.  It  is 
natural,  because  the  emphatic  syllable  of  the  word  —  and  this  alike 
in  Hebrew  and  English  —  coincides  with  the  natural  stress  of  the 
rhythm,  and  both  with  the  pulse  of  the  thought  itself  In  other 
words,  that  syllable  which  is  fullest  of  meaning  gets  at  the  same 
time  the  rhythmical  stroke  within  the  word  and  within  the  verse. 
If  this  principle  be  compared  with  the  quantitative  laws  of  Latin 
and  Greek  —  which  apply  to  the  harmonies  of  prose  no  less  than 
to  those  of  poetry  —  the  difference  will  be  apparent.  Moreover, 
the  balance  of  clauses  is  natural  in  another  sense,  in  that  their 
length  coincides  approximately  with  that  of  a  single  expiration  of 
the  breath.  And  this,  as  it  is  closely  related  with  the  pulse  of  the 
blood,  with  the  beat  of  the  heart,  elucidates  and  justifies  the 
remark  of  Dean  Stanlej^  in  his  History  of  the  Jewish  Church 
(2.  165)  :  "  'The  rapid  stroke  as  of  alternate  wings,'  '  the  heaving 
and  sinking  as  of  the  troubled  heart,'  which  have  been  beautifully 
described  as  the  essence  of  the  parallel  stnicture  of  Hebrew  verses, 
are  exactly  suited  for  the  endless  play  of  human  feeling,  and  for 
the  understanding  of  every  age  and  nation." 

The  difference  between  the  simplicity  ajid  directness  of  the  Bible 
and  the  more   complex  and  involved  structure  of  Greek  pros? 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

may  be  shown  by  comparing  the  close  of  a  Thucydidean  speech, 
being  about  one-sixth  of  Brasidas'  harangue  to  his  soldiers  before 
their  engagement  with  the  Illyrians  (Thuc.  4.  126),  with  the  whole 
of  Gideon's  address  to  his  men  before  their  encounter  with  the 
Midianites  (Judges  7.  17,  18). 

If  you  repel  their  tumultuous  onset,  and,  when  opportunity  offers,  withdraw 
again  in  good  order,  keeping  your  ranks,  you  will  sooner  arrive  at  a  place  of 
safety,  and  will  also  learn  the  lesson  that  mobs  like  these,  if  an  adversary  with- 
stand their  first  attack,  do  but  threaten  at  a  distance  and  make  a  flourish  of 
valor,  although  if  he  yields  to  them  they  are  quick  enough  to  show  their  courage 
in  following  at  his  heels  when  there  is  no  danger. 

Look  on  me,  and  do  likewise;  and  behold,  when  I  come  to  the  outside  of 
the  camp,  it  shall  be  that,  as  I  do,  so  shall  ye  do. 

When  I  blow  with  a  trumpet,  I  and  all  that  are  with  me,  then  blow  ye  the 
trumpets  also  on  every  side  of  all  the  camp,  and  say,  The  sword  of  the  Lord, 
and  of  Gideon. 

For  purposes  of  comparison  I  add  another  speech,  the  prophecy 
of  Jahaziel  from  2  Chron.  20.  15-17,  merely  modernizing  the 
punctuation  in  order  that  the  resemblance  of  its  sentence  structure 
to  that  of  a  favorite  species  of  nineteenth  century  English  may  be 
more  apparent. 

Hearken  ye,  all  Judah,  and  ye  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  and  thou  king 
Jehoshaphat.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  unto  you :  Be  not  afraid  nor  dismayed  by 
reason  of  this  great  multitude,  for  the  battle  is  not  yours,  but  God's.  To-mor- 
row go  ye  dcAvn  against  them.  Behold,  they  come  up  by  the  cliff  of  Ziz,  and 
ye  shall  find  them  at  the  end  of  the  brook,  before  the  wilderness  of  Jeruel. 
Ye  shall  not  need  to  fight  in  this  battle.  Set  yourselves,  stand  ye  still,  and 
see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord  with  you,  O  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  Fear  riM, 
nor  h)C  dismayed.  To-morrow  go  out  against  them,  for' the  Lord  will  be 
with  you.  ^ 

Sensibility,  we  have  seen,  has  a  large  place  assigned  it  in  the 
Bible.  Every  emotion  is  comprised  in  the  mighty  gamut.  Is  it 
friendship?  Behold  the  love  of  David  for  Jonathan.  Is  it  right- 
eous anger?  Consider  the  imprecations  of  the  Psalmist.  Is  it 
exultation  ?  Read  over  the  Song  of  Deborah.  Is  it  reverence, 
joy,  hope,  faith,  grief,  pity?  Each  one  finds  a  tongue,  and  speaks 
the  expressive  language  of  the  heart;     How  should  the  qualities  of 


INTRODUCTION.  Xxi 

Strength,  vigor,  simplicity,  pathos,  siibhmity,  be  absent  from  com- 
positions such  as  these  ?  How  should  there  be  room  for  the 
intrusion  of  a  frigid  artificiality? 

Artificiality  is  a  sign  that  intellect  has  become  a  usurper  on  the 
domain  of  her  rivals.  It  is  a  sign  that,  under  pretence  of  issuing 
in  a  more  presentable  form  the  crude  data  furnished  by  nature 
and  the  human  heart,  the  intellect  has  mangled,  and  mingled,  and 
disguised  them  beyond  recognition.  It  is  not  to  the  Bible,  then, 
that  we  must  look  for  artificiality,  whether  in  the  form  of  bombast, 
of  empty  declamation,  or  of  supersubtle  and  wiredrawn  conceits. 
Here  is  life  ;  here  is  nature  ;  nor  is  it  matter  for  regret  that, 
compared  with  the  average  endowment  of  the  race,  it  is  a  higher 
life,  a  melior  natura. 

To  turn  now  to  the  manifestation  of  some  of  these  qualities  in 
English  style.  Evidently  there  must  be  many  cases  in  which  it 
would  be  impossible  to  determine  whether,  when  they  appear  in 
an  English  author,  they  have  been  immediately  derived  from  con- 
verse with  the  Bible,  or  from  familiarity  with  authors  who  directly, 
or  through  some  intermediary,  have  drawn  them  from  that  source, 
or  whether,  in  fine,  they  may  have  originated  sporadically,  as  it 
were,  and  have  accidentally,  or  rather  most  naturally,  coincided 
and  blended  with  the  same  qualities  already  in  process  of  dissem- 
ination from  this  one  grand  reservoir. 

In  the  following  passage  from  Macaulay's  Essay  on  Milton,  it 
will  perhaps  be  conceded  that  he  is  Hebraizing,  at  least  in 
part. 

He  prostrated  himself  in  the  dust  before  his  Maker;  but  he  set  his  foot  on 
the  neck  of  his  king.  In  his  devotional  retirement  he  prayed  with  convul- 
sions, and  groans,  and  tears.  He  was  half  maddened  by  glorious  or  terrible 
illusions.  He  heard  the  lyres  of  angels  or  the  tempting  whispers  of  fiends. 
He  caught  a  gleam  of  the  Beatific  Vision,  or  woke  screaming  from  dreams  of 
everlasting  tire.  Like  V'ane,  he  thought  himself  intrusted  with  the  sceptre  of 
the  millennial  year.  Like  Fleetwood,  he  crietl  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul  that 
God  had  hid  his  face  from  him.  .  .  .  The  intensity  of  their  feelings  on 
one  subject  made  them  tranquil  on  every  other.  One  overpowering  sentiment 
had  subjected  to  itself  pity  an.l  hatred,  ambitioi;  and  fear.  Death  had  lost  its 
terrors,  and  pleasure  its  charms. 


xxii  INTRODUCTION. 

The  kind  of  sentence-structure  illustrated  by  this  extract  has 
been  called  constructive  or  artificial,  in  contradistinction  to  an- 
other known  as  the  cumulative.  Much  of  Milton's  prose  is  in 
the  latter  style.  Of  the  former  Payne  says  (Introduction  to  Burke's 
Select  Worki,  Vol.  I.)  :  "The  modern  or  French  method  is  to 
unite  the  members  of  the  passage  by  a  connexion  of  ideas  ;  as 
Dr.  Whately  expresses  it,  '  to  interweave  or  rather  felt  them 
together,'  by  making  the  thought  pass  over  from  one  member  to 
the  other ;  by  concealing  the  sutures,  and  making  the  parts  fit 
into  and  complement  each  other.  This  method  leaves  better 
opportunities  for  marking  boldly  the  transitions  in  the  argument, 
and,  if  appropriate,  making  corresponding  changes  in  the  style." 

Now  this  '  modern  or  French  method  '  probably  owes  some- 
thing to  the  epistolary  style  of  Cicero,  something  to  the  Latinity  of 
the  silver  age,  something  to  Biblical  models,  and  something  to  an 
artistic  striving  after  inartificiality,  a  pursuit  of  the  analytic  and  sim- 
ple, in  avoidance  of  the  synthetic  and  complex.  The  severance  in 
the  literary  product  between  what  is  due  to  one  and  what  to  another 
of  these  causes  will  often  be  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible. 
In  the  subjoined  extract  from  Addison's  Vision  of  Mirzah,  how- 
ever, the  nature  of  the  subject  and  the  general  mode  of  treatment 
make  the  task  easier,  and  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it  certainly 
owes  much  to  Scriptural  suggestion. 

He  then  led  me  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  the  rock,  and  placed  me  on  the 
top  of  it.  Cast  thy  eyes  eastward,  said  he,  and  tell  me  what  thou  secst.  I 
see,  said  I,  a  huge  valley  and  a  prodigious  tide  of  water  rolling  through  it. 
The  valley  that  thou  seest,  said  he,  is  the  vale  of  misery,  and  the  tide  of  water 
that  thou  seest  is  part  of  the  great  tide  of  eternity.  What  is  the  reason,  said 
I,  that  the  tide  I  see  rises  out  of  a  thick  mist  at  one  end,  and  again  loses  itself 
in  a  thick  mist  at  the  other?  What  thou  seest,  said  he,  is  that  portion  of 
eternity  which  is  called  time,  meaisured  out  by  the  sun,  and  reaching  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world  to  its  consummation.  Examine  now,  said  he,  this  sea 
that  is  thus  bounded  with  darkness  at  both  ends,  and  tell  me  what  thou  dis- 
coverest  in  it.  I  see  a  bridge,  said  I,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  tide.  The 
bridge  thou  seest,  said  he,  is  human  life;  consider  it  attentively.  Upon  a 
more  leisurely  survey  of  it,  I  found  that  it  consisted  of  threescore  and  ten 
entire  arches,  with  several  broken  arches,  which,  added  to  those  that  were 
entire,  made  up  the  number  about  an  hundred. 


IXTKODVCl'IOX.  xxiii 

The  archaic  style  of  parts  of  the  Urn  Buriai  suggests  a  similar 
pattern,  as  a  glance  at  this  passage  will  show. 

The  dead  seem  all  alive  in  the  human  I^ades  of  Homer,  yet  cannot  well 
speak,  prophesy,  or  know  the  living,  except  they  drink  blood,  wherein  is  the 
life  of  man.  And  therefore  the  souls  of  Penelope's  paramours,  conducted  by 
Mercury,  chirped  like  bats,  and  those  which  followed  Hercules  made  a  noise 
but  like  a  flock  of  birds.  The  departed  spirits  know  things  past  and  to  come, 
yet  are  ignorant  of  things  present.  Agamemnon  foretells  what  should  happen 
unto  Ulysses,  yet  ignorantly  inquires  what  is  become  of  his  own  son.  The 
ghosts  are  afraid  of  swords  in  Homer;  yet  Sibylla  tells  /Eneas  in  Virgil,  the 
thin  habit  of  spirits  was  beyond  the  force  of  weapons. 

But  it  is  when  we  come  to  authors  like  Hume,  Hazlitt,  or  Lamb, 
that  we  are  more  in  doubt.  What  shall  we  say  in  this  respect  of 
paragraphs  like  the  following  ? 

The  Grecian  addressed  himself  to  an  audience  much  less  refined  than  the 
Roman  senate  or  judges.  The  lowest  vulgar  of  .Athens  were  his  sovereigns 
and  the  arbiters  of  his  eloquence.  Vet  is  his  manner  more  chaste  and  austere 
than  that  of  the  other.  Could  it  be  copied,  its  success  would  be  infallible 
over  a  modern  assembly.  It  is  rapid  harmony,  exactly  adjusted  to  the  sense. 
It  is  vehement  reasoning,  without  any  appearance  of  art.  It  is  disdain,  anger, 
boldness,  freedom,  involved  in  a  continual  stream  of  argument.  And  of  all 
human  productions,  the  orations  of  Demosthenes  present  to  us  the  models 
which  approach  the  nearest  to  perfection. 

But  I  may  say  of  him  here,  that  he  is  the  only  person  I  ever  knew  who 
answered  to  the  idea  of  a  man  of  genius.  He  is  the  only  person  from  whom 
I  ever  learnt  anything.  There  is  only  one  thing  he  could  learn  from  me  in 
return,  but  that  he  has  not.  He  was  the  first  poet  I  ever  knew.  His  genius 
at  that  time  had  angelic  wings,  and  fed  on  manna.  He  talked  on  for  ever; 
and  you  wished  him  to  talk  on  for  ever.  His  thoughts  did  not  seem  to  come 
with  labor  and  eflort,  but  as  if  borne  on  the  gusts  of  genius,  and  as  if  the 
wings  of  his  imagination  lifted  him  from  off  his  feet.  His  voice  rolled  on  the 
ear  like  the  pealing  organ,  and  its  sound  alone  was  the  music  of  thought. 
His  mind  was  clothed  with  wings;  and  raised  on  them,  he  lifted  philosophy 
to  heaven. 

My  reading  has  been  lamentably  desultory  and  immethodical.  C)dd,  out  of 
the  way,  old  English  plays  and  treatises,  have  supplied  me  with  most  of  my 
notions  and  ways  of  feeling.  In  everything  that  relates  to  .f./cwtc,  I  am 
a  whole  Encyclopaedia  behinil  the  rest  of  the  world.      I  should  have  scarcely 


xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

cut  a  figure  among  the  franklins,  or  country  gentlemen,  in  King  John's  days. 
I  know  less  geography  than  a  schoolboy  of  six  weeks'  standing.  To  me  a 
map  of  old  Ortelius  is  as  authentic  as  Arrowsmith. 

The  first  of  these  is  from  a  discourse  on  Eloquence,  by  Hume, 
the  second,  Hazhtt's  opinion  on  Coleridge,  from  his  English  Poets, 
and  the  third  from  Elia  {The  Old  and  the  New  Schoolmaster). 
They  are  all  in  the  constructive  or  artificial  style,  and,  so  far  as 
syntax  goes,  have  much  in  common  with  the  Bible.  It  may  be 
urged  that  their  authors  are  quite  as  likely  to  be  imitators  of 
Seneca,  or  of  his  imitators.  But,  apart  from  the  question  whether 
Seneca  himself  may  not  have  come  under  Hebraic  influence,  it 
must  still  be  said  that  the  ear  of  the  English  reader  (and  it  is  for 
the  reader  that,  after  all  has  been  said,  style  is  elaborated)  had 
been  attuned,  not  by  the  treatises  On  Anger  and  On  Benefits,  but 
by  the  cadences  of  Scripture.  If  now  we  compare  these  citations 
with  examples  of  the  cumulative  style,  the  difi"erence  will  be  most 
conspicuous.  The  first  extract  which  follows  is  from  Hooker's 
Ecclesiastical  Polity  (Bk.  I.  Chap.  3),  the  second  from  Milton's 
0/  Reformation  in  England,  near  its  close. 

But  we  must  further  remember  also  (which  thing  to  touch  in  a  word  shall 
suffice)  that  as  in  this  respect  they  have  their  law,  which  law  directeth  them 
in  the  means  whereby  they  tend  to  their  own  perfection,  so  likewise  another 
law  there  is,  which  toucheth  them  as  they  are  sociable  parts  united  into  one 
body,  a  law  which  bindeth  them  each  to  serve  unto  other's  good,  and  all  to 
prefer  the  good  of  the  whole  before  whatsoever  their  own  particular,  as  we 
plainly  see  they  do  when  things  natural  in  that  regard  forget  their  ordinary 
natural  wont,  that  which  is  heavy  mounting  sometime  upwards  of  its  own 
accord,  and  forsaking  the  centre  of  the  earth,  which  to  its«lf  is  most  natural, 
even  as  if  it  did  hear  itself  commanded  to  let  go  the  good  it  privately  wisheth, 
and  to  relieve  the  present  distress  of  nature  in  common. 

Then,  amidst  the  hymns  and  hallelujahs  of  saints,  some  one  may  perhaps 
be  heard  offering  at  high  strains  in  new  and  lofty  measure  to  sing  and  cele- 
brate thy  divine  mercies  and  marvelous  judgments  in  this  land  throughout  all 
ages;  whereby  this  great  and  warlike  nation,  instructed  and  inured  to  the 
fervent  and  continual  practice  of  truth  and  righteousness,  and  casting  far  from 
her  the  rags  of  her  whole  vices,  may  press  on  hard  to  that  high  and  happy 
emulation  to  be  found  the  soberest,  wisest,  and  most  Christian  people  at  that 
day  when  thou,  the  eternal  and  shortly  expected  King,  shalt  open  the  clouds 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

to  judge  the  several  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and,  distributing  national  honors 
and  rewards  to  religious  and  just  commonwealths,  shalt  put  an  end  to  all 
earthly  tyrannies,  proclaiming  thy  universal  and  mild  monarchy  through 
heaven  and  earth,  where  they  undoubtedly  that  by  their  labors,  counsels,  and 
l>rayers  have  been  earnest  for  the  common  good  of  religion  and  their  country, 
shall  receive,  aliove  the  inferior  orders  of  the  Idessed,  the  regal  addition  of 
principalities,  legions,  and  thrones  into  their  glorious  titles,  and  in  superemi- 
nence  of  beatific  vision  progressing  the  dateless  and  irrevoluble  circle  of 
eternity,  shall  clasp  inseparable  hands  with  joy  and  bliss,  in  overmeasure 
for  ever. 

Who  could  mistake  these,  though  the  latter  is  colored  by  Script- 
ural phrases,  for  imitations  of  Scriptural  style,  or  regard  them  as 
conformable  to  it?^  In  its  simplicity  and  concreteness  Robinson 
Crusoe  has  much  more  in  common  with  the  Bible,  and  it  is  from 
this  source  that  those  qualities  were  no  doubt  in  large  measure 
derived.     Let  us  see. 

I  found  also  that  the  island  I  was  in  was  barren,  and,  as  I  saw  good  reason 
to  believe,  uninhabited,  except  by  wild  beasts,  of  whom  however  1  saw  none. 
Vet  I  saw  abundance  of  fowls,  but  knew  not  their  kinds;  neither  when  I 
killed  them  could  I  tell  what  was  fit  for  food,  and  what  not.  At  my  coming 
back  I  shot  at  a  great  bird  which  I  saw  sitting  upon  a  tree  on  the  side  of  a 
great  wood.  I  believe  it  was  the  first  gun  that  had  been  fired  there  since  the 
creation  of  the  world.  I  had  no  sooner  fired  but  from  all  the  parts  of  the 
wood  there  arose  an  innumerable  number  of  fowls  of  many  sorts,  making  a 
confused  screaming,  and  crying  every  one  according  to  his  usual  note,  but  not 
one  of  them  uf  any  kind  that  I  knew.  As  for  the  creature  I  killed,  I  took  it 
to  be  a  kind  of  a  hawk,  its  color  and  beak  resembling  it,  but  had  no  talons  or 
claws  more  than  common.     Its  flesh  was  carrion,  and  tit  for  nothing. 

But  the  matter  is  beyond  dispute  when  we  come  to  a  piece  of 
classic  prose  like  Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural,  which  certainly 
owes  nothing  to  the  Romans  (oftener  Spaniards)  of  the  Deca- 
dence. 

Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the  magnitude  or  the  duration  which  it 
has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  might 
cease  with,  or  even  before,  the  conflict  itself  shouKi  cease.  Each  looked  for 
an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astounding.  Both  read 
the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same  (jod;    and  eacli  invokes  his  aid  against 

^  Tiiey  rather  suggest  Cicero  as  an  ultimate  model. 


xxvi  INTRODUCTIOiW 

the  other.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  men  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's 
assistance  in  wringing  their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces;  hut 
let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged.  The  prayers  of  both  could  not  be 
answered.  That  of  neither  has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  his 
own  purposes. 

At  this  point  we  may  pause,  for  we  need  no  further  demonstra- 
tion of  the  indebtedness  of  English  prose  style  to  the  Bible,  nor 
would  it  be  easy  to  discover  a  better  illustration  of  Biblical  quali- 
ties in  modern  guise,  exemplified  in  a  passage  of  more  interest 
to  all  the  world.  South  reckoned  it  a  mark  of  illiteracy  to  be 
fond  of  '  high-flown  metaphors  and  allegories,  attended  and  set 
off  with  scraps  of  Greek  and  Latin.'  If  this  be  true,  the  American 
people  in  so  far  escape  the  imputation  as  they  have  set  the  seal  of 
their  approval  on  such  writing  as  Lincoln's ;  and  that  they  have 
had  the  judgment  and  taste  to  do  so  is  due,  more  than  to  any 
other  cause,  to  their  familiarity  with  the  Bible.^ 

1  For  a  parallel  influence  of  the  Bible  on  German  of.  Nagelsbach's  remarks 
in  his  Lateinische  Stilistik,  p.  7 :  "  Wahrend  nun  in  den  Schulen  diese  gross- 
tentheils  brotlosen  Kiinste  getrieben  wurden  und  das  Latein  so  sehr  seine 
Wiirde  verlor,  dass  es  vor  hundert  Jahren  in  Deutschland  wohl  schwerlich 
mehr  als  drei  geschmackvolle  Stilisten  gab,  Mosheim,  Gesner  und  Ernesti,  hob 
sich  auf  der  andern  Seiie  die  Muttersprache,  an  die  rein  gebliebene  Kir- 
chen-  und  Bibehprache  ankniipfend,  zu  einer  nie  geahnten  Dantellungsfdhig- 
kcitr 


ILLUSTRATIVE   COMMENTS. 


o>*:c 


I.  Importance  of  the  Bible  to  the  Student  of  English. 
[RuSKiN,  Praterita,  Chap,  i.] 

WALTER  SCOTT  and  Pope's  Homer  were  reading  of  my 
own  selection,  but  my  mother  forced  me,  by  steady  daily  • 
toil,  to  learn  long  chapters  of  the  Bible  by  heart ;  as  well  as  to 
read  it  every  syllable  through,  aloud,  hard  names  and  all,  from 
Genesis  to  the  Apocalypse,  about  once  a  year ;  and  to  that  dis- 
cipline —  patient,  accurate,  and  resolute  —  I  owe,  not  only  a 
knowledge  of  the  book,  which  I  find  occasionally  serviceable,  but 
much  of  my  general  power  of  taking  pains,  and  the  best  part  of 
my  taste  in  literature.  From  W^alter  Scott's  novels  I  might  easily, 
as  I  grew  older,  have  fallen  to  other  people's  novels ;  and  Pope 
might,  perhaps,  have  led  me  to  take  Johnson's  English,  or  Gibbon's, 
as  types  of  language ;  but,  once  knowing  the  32nd  of  Deuter- 
onomy, the  119th  Psalm,  the  15th  of  ist  Corinthians,  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  and  most  of  the  Apocalypse,  every  syllable  by 
heart,  and  having  always  a  way  of  thinking  with  myself  what  words 
meant,  it  was  not  possible  for  me,  even  in  the  foolishest  times  of 
youth,  to  write  entirely  superficial  or  formal  English. 

[RusKiN,  Prceterita,  Chap.  2.] 

I  have  next  with  deef)er  gratitude  to  chronicle  what  I  owed  to 
my  mother  for  the  resolutely  consistent  lessons  which  so  exercised 
me  in  the  Scriptures  as  to  make  every  word  of  them  familiar  to 
my  ear  in  habitual  music,  —  yet  in  that  familiarity  reverenced,  as 
transcending  all  thought,  and  ordaining  all  conduct. 


xxviii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

This  she  effected,  not  by  her  own  sayings  or  personal  authority ; 
but  simply  by  compelling  me  to  read  the  book  thoroughly,  for 
myself.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to  read  with  fluency,  she  began  a 
course  of  Bible  work  with  me,  which  never  ceased  till  I  went  to 
Oxford.  She  read  alternate  verses  with  me,  watching,  at  first, 
every  intonation  of  my  voice,  and  correcting  the  false  ones,  till 
she  made  me  understand  the  verse,  if  within  my  reach,  rightly, 
and  energetically.  It  might  be  beyond  me  altogether  ;  that  she 
did  not  care  about ;  but  she  made  sure  that  as  soon  as  I  got  hold 
of  it  at  all,  I  should  get  hold  of  it  by  the  right  end. 

In  this  way  she  began  with  the  first  verse  of  Genesis,  and  went 
straight  through,  to  the  last  verse  of  the  Apocalypse  ;  hard  names, 
numbers,  Levitical  law,  and  all ;  and  began  again  at  Genesis  the 
next  day.  If  a  name  was  hard,  the  better  the  exercise  in  pronun- 
ciation,—  if  a  chapter  was  tiresome,  the  better  lesson  in  patience, 
—  if  loathsome,  the  better  lesson  in  faith  that  there  was  some  use 
in  its  being  so  outspoken.  After  our  chapters,  (from  two  to  three 
a  day,  according  to  their  length,  the  first  thing  after  breakfast,  and 
no  interruption  from  servants  allowed,  —  none  from  visitors,  who 
either  joined  in  the  reading  or  had  to  stay  upstairs,  —  and  none 
from  any  visitings  or  excursions,  except  real  traveling,)  I  had  to 
learn  a  few  verses  by  heart,  or  repeat,  to  make  sure  I  had  not  lost, 
something  of  what  was  already  known ;  and,  with  the  chapters 
thus  gradually  possessed  from  the  first  word  to  the  last,  I  had  to 
learn  the  whole  body  of  the  fine  old  Scottish  paraphrases,  which 
are  good,  melodious,  and  forceful  verse ;  and  to  which,  together 
with  the  Bible  itself,  I  owe  the  first  cultivation  of  my  ear  in 
sound. 

It  is  strange  that  of  all  the  pieces  of  the  Bible  which  my  mother 
thus  taught  me,  that  which  cost  me  most  to  learn,  and  which  was, 
to  my  child's  mind,  chiefly  repulsive  —  the  119th  Psalm  —  has 
now  become  of  all  the  most  precious  to  me.   .  .  . 

But  it  is  only  Ijy  deliberate  effort  that  I  recall  the  long  morning 
hours- of  toil,  as  regular  as  sunrise, — toil  on  both  sides  equal  — 
by  which,  year  after  year,  my  mother  forced  me  to  learn  these 
paraphrases,  and  chapters,  (the  eighth  of  ist  Kings  being  one  — 


RUSK  IN.  xxix 

try  it,  good  reader,  in  a  leisure  hour  !)  allowing  not  so  much  as 
a  syllable  to  be  missed  or  misplaced  ;  while  every  sentence  was 
required  to  be  said  over  and  over  again  till  she  was  satisfied  with 
the  accent  of  it.  I  recollect  a  struggle  between  us  of  about  three 
weeks,  concerning  the  accent  of  the  'of  in  the  lines 

Shall  any  following  spring  revive 
The  ashes  of  the  urn  ?  — 

I  insisting,  partly  in  childish  obstinacy,  and  partly  in  true  instinct 
for  rhythm,  (being  wholly  careless  on  the  subject  both  of  urns  and 
their  contents,)  on  reciting  it  with  an  accented  of.     It  was  not, 

1  say,  till  after  three  weeks'  labor,  that  my  mother  got  the  accent 
lightened  on  the  'of  and  laid  on  the  ashes,  to  her  mind.  But 
had  it  taken  three  years,  she  would  have  done  it,  having  once 
undertaken  to  do  it.  And,  assuredly,  had  she  not  done  it,  —  well, 
there's  no  knowing  what  would  have  happened  ;  but  I'm  very 
thankful  she  did. 

I  have  just  opened  my  oldest  (in  use)  Bible,  —  a  small,  closely, 
and  very  neatly  printed  volume  it  is,  printed  in  Edinburgh  by  Sir 
D.  Hunter  Blair  and  J.  Bruce,  Printers  to  the  King's  Most  Excel- 
lent Majesty,  in  1816.  Yellow,  now,  with  age,  and  flexible,  but 
not  unclean,  with  much  use,  except  that  the  lower  corners  of  the 
pages  at  8th  of  ist  Kings,  and  3 2d  Deuteronomy,  are  worn  some- 
what thin  and  dark,  the  learning  of  these  two  chapters  having  cost 
me  much  pains.  My  mother's  list  of  the  chapters  with  which,  thus 
learned,  she  established  my  soul  in  life,  has  just  fallen  out  of  it. 

I  will  take  what  indulgence  the  incurious  reader  can  give  me, 
for  printing  the  list  thus  accidentally  occurrent :  — 

Exodus  chapters    15th  and  20th. 

2  Samuel  "  ist,  from  17th  verse  to  the  end. 
I  Kings                         "          8th. 

Y^\m.^  "       5^3d,  32f^'    90th,    91st,    103d,    ii2th, 

(  I  igih,  139th. 
Proverbs  "  2d,  3d,  8th,  12th. 

Isaiah  "  58th. 


XXX  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

Matthew  chapters  5  th,  6th,  7th. 

Acts  "  26th. 

I  Corinthians  "  13th,  15th. 

James  "  4th. 

Revelation  "  5th,  6th. 

And  truly,  though  I  have  picked  up  the  elements  of  a  little 
further  knowledge  —  in  mathematics,  meteorology,  and  the  like,  in 
after  life,  —  and  owe  not  a  little  to  the  teaching  of  many  people,  this 
maternal  installation  of  my  mind  in  that  property  of  chapters, 
I  count  very  confidently  the  most  precious,  and,  on  the  whole, 
the  one  essential  part  of  all  my  education. 

[Matthew  Arnold,  Isaiah  of  Jerusalem,  pp.  4-5.] 

I  rate  the  value  of  the  operation  of  poetry  and  literature  upon 
men's  minds  extremely  high ;  and  from  no  poetry  and  literature, 
not  even  from  our  own  Shakespeare  and  Milton,  great  as  they  are 
and  our  own  as  they  are,  have  I,  for  my  own  part,  received  so 
much  delight  and  stimulus  as  from  Homer  and  Isaiah.  To  know, 
in  addition  to  one's  native  literature,  a  great  poetry  and  literature 
not  of  home  growth,  is  an  influence  of  the  highest  value  ;  it  very 
greatly  widens  one's  range.  The  Bible  has  thus  been  an  influence 
of  the  highest  value  for  the  nations  of  Christendom.  And  the 
effect  of  Hebrew  poetry  can  be  preserved  and  transferred  in  a 
foreign  language,  as  the  eff"ect  of  other  great  poetry  cannot.  The 
effect  of  Homer,  the  effect  of  Dante,  is  and  must  be  in  great 
measure  lost  in  a  translation,  because  their  poetry  is  a  poetry  of 
metre,  or  of  rime,  or  both  ;  and  the  efi"ect  of  these  is  not  really 
transferable.  A  man  may  make  a  good  English  poem  with  the 
matter  and  thoughts  of  Homer  or  Dante,  may  even  try  to  repro- 
duce their  metre,  or  to  reproduce  their  rime  ;  but  the  metre  and 
rime  will  be  in  truth  his  own,  and  the  effect  will  be  his,  not  the 
effect  of  Homer  or  Dante.  Isaiah's,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a 
poetry,  as  is  well  known,  of  parallelism  ;  it  depends  not  on  metre 
and  rime,  but  on  a  balance  of  thought,  conveyed  by  a  correspond- 


BO  WEN.  XXXI 

ing  balance  of  sentence  ;  and  the  effect  of  this  can  be  transferred 
to  another  language.  Hebrew  poetry  has  in  addition  the  effect 
of  assonance  and  other  effects  which  cannot  perhaps  be  trans- 
ferred ;  but  its  main  effect,  its  effect  of  parallelism  of  thought  and 
sentence,  can. 

[BowEN,  A  Layman's  Stuiiy  of  the  English  Bible,  Chap,  i.] 

Leaving  these  general  considerations,  let  us  now  come  to  par- 
ticulars, and  consider  that  aspect  of  the  study  of  the  English  Bible 
which  makes  it  interesting  to  the  mere  lover  of  literature.  Look 
first  at  the  diction,  and  weigh  its  merits  regarded  simply  as  a  spec- 
imen of  English  prose.  The  opinion  of  scholars  is  unanimous 
that  its  excellence  in  this  respect  is  unmatched  ;  English  literature 
has  nothing  equal  to  it,  and  is  indeed  largely  indebted  to  con- 
scious or  unconscious  imitation  of  it  for  many  of  its  best  and  most 
characteristic  qualities.  The  diction  is  remarkable  for  clearness, 
simplicity,  and  strength.  It  is  as  simple  and  natural  as  the  prat- 
tle of  children  at  play,  yet  never  lacking  in  grace  or  dignity,  or  in 
variety  and  expressive  force.  Till  our  attention  is  called  to  it,  we 
seldom  notice  what  I  may  call  the  homeliness  of  the  style,  the 
selection  of  short  and  pithy  Saxon  turns  of  expression,  and  the 
wealth  and  strength  of  idiomatic  phrase.  One  who  should 
attempt  to  imitate  it  would  easily  lapse  into  vulgar  and  colloquial 
language,  or,  in  striving  to  avoid  this  fault,  into  a  certain  primness 
and  stiffness  of  speech,  which  is  even  worse.  In  truth,-  it  cannot 
be  imitated  ;  to  write  such  prose  as  that  of  our  Common  Version 
is  now  one  of  the  lost  arts.  .-\nd  I  have  not  yet  mentioned  what 
is  to  many  persons  the  peculiar  and  most  striking  charm  of  the 
style  ;  that  is,  its  musical  quality,  the  silvery  ring  of  the  sentences, 
and  the  rich  and  varied  melody  of  its  cadences  whenever  the 
sense  comes  to  a  close.  .  .  . 

Now  the  century  beginning  about  1520,  during  which  our 
English  Bible  thus  gradually  obtained  its  present  beauty  and  finish, 
was  precisely  that  in  which  our  not)le  mother  tongue  completed 
its  process  of  development  and  attained  its  highest  stage  of  perfec- 


xxxii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMEXTS. 

tion.  Since  this  period,  there  lias  been  indeed  an  enlargement  of 
its  stores,  in  order  to  keep  pace  with  the  progress  of  science, 
invention,  and  art ;  but  we  witness  no  further  process  of  organic 
growth.  We  see  change,  but  no  further  amendment ;  rather  a 
deterioration.  This  was  the. age  of  Hooker,  Shakespeare,  and 
Bacon  ;  of  Spenser,  Latimer,  and  Raleigh ;  and  it  prepared  the 
way  for  Hobbes  and  Dryden.  It  was  the  golden  age  of  the  Eng- 
lish drama.  These  are  great  names,  and  many  passages  in  their 
writings  show  a  complete  mastery  of  the  English  language,  and 
form  a  grand  display  of  its  versatility,  its  sweetness,  and  its  strength. 
But  beside  them  all,  and  above  them  all,  is  the  prose  of  our  Com- 
mon Version.  It  is  more  sustained  than  any  of  them,  more 
uniformly  strong  and  melodious  in  its  flow,  reminding  one  of  the 
famous  couplet  of  Denham  on  the  Thames  :  — 

Though  deep  yet  clear,  though  gentle  yet  not  dull, 
Strong  without  rage,  without  o'erflowing  full. 

And  it  has  largely  contributed  to  the  fixation  of  the  language  at 
this  its  best  estate,  since  the  number  of  words  in  it  the  meaning 
of  which  has  become  obsolete  in  the  course  of  nearly  three  subse-. 
quent  centuries  is  so  small  that  they  may  almost  be  counted  on 
the  fingers.  True,  the  diction  seems  often  to  have  a  slightly 
archaic  tinge ;  but  this  is  an  advantage  rather  than  a  fault, 
as  it  tends  to  preserve  the  dignity  and  impressiveness  of  the 
style.   .  .  . 

I  ought  to  cite  specimens  in  justification  of  the  high  praise  here 
awarded  to  the  English  style  of  the  Bible.  But  one  is  at  a  lo. >s 
what  to  choose  out  of  the  wealth  of  material  at  hand  ;  and  then, 
so  much  of  the  charm  of  passages  from  the  Scriptures  is  due  to 
associations  going  back  to  one's  childhood,  and  to  the  intrinsic 
power  and  sweetness  of  the  thought,  the  precept,  or  the  sentiment, 
that  it  is  hard  to  fasten  our  attention  on  the  mere  diction.  But 
in  what  follows,  let  me  ask  the  reader  to  divest  his  mind,  if  he  can, 
from  all  thought  of  the  doctrine  conveyed,  or  of  the  tenderness 
and  pathos  of  the  sentiment,  and  to  consider  the  felicity  and  the 
music  of  the  words  alone. 


RENAN.  Ixr 

impressions  which,  reflected  by  the  consciousness  of  primitive  man, 
resulted  in  language.  Derivative  words  are  formed  according  to 
simple  and  uniform  laws.  The  verb  has  a  still  evident  character 
of  priority.  .  .  .  The  noun  has  but  few  inflections.  .  ,  .  Certain 
parasitical  monosyllables,  which  agglutinate  at  the  beginning  of 
words,  take  the  place  of  terminal  inflections.  .  .  .  Indeed,  the 
whole  construction  of  the  sentence  displays  such  a  character  of 
simplicity,  especially  in  narrative,  that  we  can  only  think  of  the 
artless  stories  of  a  child.  Instead  of  the  skilful  involutions  of 
phrase  {circuiius,  comprehensio,  as  Cicero  calls  them)  within 
whose  compass  Greek  and  Latin  unite  with  so  much  art  the 
various  members  of  a  single  thought,  the  Semites  can  only 
attach  one  proposition  to  the  end  of  another,  using  as  their 
sole  contrivance  the  simple  copula  and,  which  serves  them  in 
lieu  of  almost  every  other  conjunction. 

Ewald  has  rightly  observed  that  the  language  of  the  Semites 
is  rather  poetic  and  lyrical  than  oratorical  or  epic.  It  is  true  that 
the  art  of  oratory,  in  the  classical  sense,  has  always  been  foreign  to 
them.  Semitic  grammar  is  almost  ignorant  of  the  art  of  sub- 
ordinating the  clauses  of  the  sentence  ;  it  taxes  the  race  which 
created  it  with  a  patent  inferiority  of  the  reasoning  faculties,  but 
allows  it  a  very  lively  sense  of  reality  and  much  delicacy  of  sensa- 
tion. Perspective  is  wholly  wanting  to  the  Semitic  style  ;  in  vain 
should  we  seek  in  it  those  sallies,  those  retreats,  those  half-lights, 
which  give  the  Aryan  languages  a  second  power  of  expression,  as 
it  were.  Plain  and  destitute  of  inversions,  the  Semitic  languages 
are  acquainted  with  no  process  save  the  juxtaposition  of  ideas, 
after  the  manner  of  Byzantine  painting  or  the  bas-reliefs  of 
Nineveh.  We  must  even  admit  that  the  idea  of  style,  as  we 
understand  the  word,  is  entirely  wanting  to  the  Semites.  Their 
periods  are  very  short ;  the  extent  of  discourse  which  they  can 
embrace  at  once  does  not  exceed  one  or  two  lines.  Solely  con- 
cerned with  the  thought  of  the  moment,  they  do  not  prepare  in 
advance  the  mechanism  of  the  sentence,  and  never  consider  what 
precedes  or  what  is  to  come.  Hence  result  strange  inadvertences, 
into  which  they  are  led  by  their  inability  to  follow  to  the  end  a 


Ixvi  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMEXTS. 

single  idea,  and  by  their  practice  of  never  returning  to  correct 
what  has  once  been  written.  It  is  like  the  most  careless  conver- 
sation, caught  in  the  act  and  immediately  fixed  by  writing. 

In  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  as  in  their  whole  mental  con- 
stitution, there  is  with  the  Semites  one  intricacy  less  than  with  the 
Aryans.  They  are  destitute  of  one  of  the  degrees  of  combination 
which  we  esteem  necessary  for  the  complete  expression  of  thought. 
The  uniting  of  words  into  a  proposition  is  their  supreme  effort ; 
it  never  occurs  to  them  to  repeat  the  process  on  the  proposi- 
tions themselves.  This  is,  according  to  the  expression  of  Aristotle,* 
the  '  indefinite  style,'  advancing  by  accumulated  atoms,  as  opposed 
to  the  finished  rotundity  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  period.  Every- 
thing which  may  be  included  under  the  r"  nomination  of  oratorical 
harmony  remained  unknown  to  them.  Eloquence  is  for  them 
only  a  lively  succession  of  earnest  observations  and  bold  images  ; 
in  rhetoric  no  less  than  in  architecture  their  favorite  device  is 
the  arabesque. 

The  importance  of  the  verse  in  Semitic  style  is  the  best  proof  of 
the  total  lack  of  internal  construction  which  characterizes  their 
diction.  The  verse  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  period,  since  it  does  not  present  a  succession  of  members 
dependent  upon  one  another ;  it  is  an  almost  arbitrary  division  in 
a  series  of  propositions  separated  by  commas.  Its  length  is  not 
determined  by  anything  essential ;  the  verse  corresponds  to  the 
pauses  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  respiration,  whether  or  not 
such  pauses  are  required  by  the  sense.  The  author  stops,  not 
from  the  feeling  that  he  has  arrived  at  a  natural  halting-place  in 
his  discourse,  but  simply  because  he  cannot  help  himself.  Let 
any  one  attempt  to  divide  up  in  this  way  a  speech  of  Demosthenes 
or  Cicero,  and  he  will  realize  how  fully  the  verse  belongs  to  the 
very  essence  of  the  Semitic  languages.  It  is  only  at  a  compara- 
tively recent  period  that  they  gave  up  this  feature,  an  insufficient 
provision  against  the  wearisome  monotony  to  which  they  were 
condemned  by  their  too  simple  idea  of  discourse. 

We  may  say  that  the  Aryan  tongues,  compared  with  the  Semitic, 

*  See  p.  Ixviii. 


BO  WEN.  xxxiii 

Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  loam  of  me ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my 
burden  is  light.  —  Matthew  ii.  28-30. 

Again  :  — 

0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them 
which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children 
together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would 
not !  Behold,  your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.  For  I  say  unto  you,  Ye 
shall  not  see  me  henceforth,  till  ye  shall  say,  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord.  —  Matthew  23.  37-39. 

Once  more  :  — 

For  ther?  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it  will  sprout  again,  and 
that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will  not  cease.  Though  the  root  thereof  wax 
old  in  the  earth,  and  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground;  yet  through  the 
scent  of  water  it  will  bud,  and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant.  But  man  dieth, 
and  wastrfth  away;  yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he?  As  the 
waters  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  flood  decayeth  and  drieth  up;  so  man  lieth 
down  and  riseth  not;  till  the  heavens  be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake,  nor 
be  raised  out  of  their  sleep.  —  Job  14.  7-12. 

Lastly :  — 

I  will  take  no  bullock  out  of  thy  house. 

Nor  he  goats  out  of  thy  folds. 

For  every  beast  of  the  forest  is  mine, 

And  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills. 

Will  I  eat  the  flesh  of  bulls, 

Or  drink  the  blood  of  goats? 

Offer  unto  God  thanksgiving; 

And  pay  thy  vows  unto  the  Most  High : 

And  call  upon  me  in  the  day  of  trouble  : 

I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me. 

Psalm  50.  9-15. 

1  may  seem  to  have  labored  this  point  too  much.  But  what  is 
here  said  is  particularly  addressed  to  young  students,  since  it  may 
be  supposed  that  one  leading  purpose  of  their  education  is  the  for- 
mation of  a  good  prose  style,  at  once  clear  and  flowing,  strong  and 
pure,     I  hope  to  show  that  the  proper  study  of  the  Bible  may  be, 


xxxiv  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

and  ought  to  be,  a  means  of  comprehensive  and  thorough  train- 
ing, not  only  in  theology,  to  which  it  is  but  too  often  exclusively 
devoted,  and  in  philosophy,  poetry,  and  history,  but  also  in  litera- 
ture and  English  style.  In  any  scheme  of  University  studies,  it  is 
a  great  mistake  to  make  over  any  one  department  altogether  to 
mere  specialists,  and  thereby  to  lead  the  mind  of  the  student  along 
one  narrow  track,  strictly  fenced  in  against  any  excursion  over  the 
other  broad  fields  of  human  culture  which  lie  around  it  on  every 
side.  Now  this  end,  the  formation  of  a  good  prose  style,  cannot 
be  attained  by  precept  and  system,  by  conscious  effort  or  the 
observance  of  fixed  rules.  But  just  as  a  man's  character  and  con- 
duct are  mainly  determined  by  the  company  that  he  keeps,  so  his 
modes  of  utterance  are  silently  fashioned  by  unconscious  imitation 
of  the  models  which  he  has  often  before  him,  that  is,  by  the  books 
which  he  "most  familiarly  reads.  It  is  said  of  Voltaire,  that  he 
always  had  a  copy  of  the  '  Petit  Careme '  of  Massillon  lying  on 
his  writing-table,  to  be  taken  up  during  any  odd  quarter  of  an 
hour,  for  the  sake  of  its  influence  on  his  style.  The  method  was 
good,  though  perhaps  the  choice  was  not  happy.  I  think  Pascal, 
Rochefoucauld,  or  La  Bruyere  would  have  served  his  purpose  bet- 
ter. But  there  can  be  no  doubt  what  English  models  we  ought  to 
select.  .Keep  the  Bible,  a  volume  of  Shakespeare,  and  Lord  Bacon's 
Essays  always  within  arm's-reach  ;  half  an  hour  devoted  to  either 
of  them  will  be  mere  recreation,  and  will  never  be  unprofitably 
spent.  Only  when  your  minds  and  memories  have  become  satu- 
rated with  the  prose  of  our  Common  Version,  with  the  phrase- 
ology of  Shakespeare,  and  even,  if  one  has  command  of  French, 
with  the  neat  succinctness,  precision,  and  point  of  Pascal,  will  you 
have  mastered  the  elements  of  a  good  English  style.  Then  only 
will  you  have  a  copious  vocabulary  to  draw  from,  a  rich  store  of 
words  and  phrases  and  a  variety  of  allusions  always  at  hand,  and 
not  be  obliged  painfully  to  ransack  a  meagre  and  hidebound  dic- 
tion in  order  to  set  forth  your  meaning.  But  as  most  people 
nowadays  read  little  except  the  newspapers  and  ten-cent  novels, 
one  need  not  wonder  that  they  talk  and  write  slang,  or  adopt  only 
a  slipshod,   stilted,   or   uncouth   phraseology.      Coleridge   rightly 


VENABLES.  xxxv 

says,  in  his  Table-Talk,  '  Intense  study  of  the  Bible  v/ill  keep  any 
writer  from  being  vulgar  in  point  of  style.' 

John  Ruskin  is  certainly  the  greatest  master  that  the  present 
century  has  produced  of  pure,  idiomatic,  vigorous,  and  eloquent 
English  prose  ;  and  as  the  first  volume  of  his  '  Modern  Painters,* 
perhaps  his  best  work,  appeared  over  forty  years  ago,  when  he  was 
a  recent  '  Graduate  of  Oxford,'  his  style  was  perfectly  formed 
while  he  was  yet  a  young  man.  How  was  it  formed  ?  In  one  of 
his  latest  writings  he  has  told  us  that  in  his  childhood,  as  a  part  of 
his  home  education,  his  mother  required  him  to  commit  to  mem- 
ory, and  repeat  to  her,  passages  from  the  Bible.  A  similar  cus- 
tom, as  some  of  us  old  men  know,  prevailed  here  in  New  England 
over  half  a  century  ago,  and  I  hope  that  in  some  families  it  lingers 
still.  Ruskin  gives  us  the  exact  list,  twenty-six  in  number,  of  the 
Psalms  and  chapters  which  he  thus  learned  by  heart ;  and  as  the 
selection  was  in  the  main  an  excellent  one,  we  need  not  seek  fur- 
ther for  the  secret  of  his  admirable  diction  and  perfect  command 
of  English  phraseology. 


a.  English  Imitators  of  Biblical  Language. 

[Venables,  Biographical  Introctuction   to  Bunyan,  Clarendon 
PresiS  Series,  pp.  xl-xli.] 

The  great  charm  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  is  the  purity,  the 
homeliness,  of  its  vernacular.  Few  were  ever  such  complete  mas- 
ters of  their  '  sweet  mother  tongue  '  in  its  native  vigor  as  Bunyan. 
The  book  stands  unrivaled  as  a  model  of  our  English  speech, 
plain  but  never  vulgar,  full  of  metaphor  but  never  obscure,  always 
intelligible,  always  forcible,  going  straight  to  the  point  in  the  few- 
est and  simplest  words.  He  is  '  powerful  and  picturesque,'  writes 
Mr.  Hallam,  *  from  his  concise  simplicity.'  Bunyan's  style  is  rec- 
ommended by  Lord  Macaulay  as  '  an  invaluable  study  to  every 
person  who  wishes  to  gain  a  wide  command  over  the  English  lan- 
guage. Its  vocabulary  is  the  vocabulary  of  the  common  people. 
There  is  not  an  expression,  if  we  except  a  few  technical  terms  ot 


xxxvi  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

theology,  that  would  puzzle  the  rudest  peasant.'  He  remarks  that 
there  are  whole  pages  which  do  not  contain  a  single  word  of  more 
than  two  syllables,  and  that  thus  there  is  no  book  which  shows  so 
well  '  how  rich  the  old  unpolluted  English  is  in  its  proper  wealth, 
and  how  little  it  has  been  improved  by  all  that  it  has  borrowed.' 
And  the  reason  of  this  excellence  is  evident.  Bunyan's  English 
was  the  English  of  the  Bible.  By  constant  perusal  his  mind  was 
thoroughly  steeped  in  Holy  Scripture  ;  he  thought  its  thoughts, 
spoke  its  words,  adopted  its  images.  '  In  no  book,'  writes  Mr. 
Green,  '  do  we  see  more  clearly  the  new  imaginative  force  which 
had  been  given  to  the  common  life  of  Englishmen  by  their  study 
of  the  Bible.  Its  English  is  the  simplest  and  homeliest  English 
that  has  ever  been  used  by  any  great  English  writer,  but  it  is  the 
English  of  the  Bible.'  Those  who  desire  to  become,  like  him, 
masters  of  our  own  grand  mother  tongue,  and  use  it  as  an  instru- 
ment for  swaying  the  hearts,  and  elevating  the  souls,  and  instruct- 
ing the  minds  of  others,  can  take  no  better  way  to  this  end  —  to 
say  nothing  of  its  higher  purposes  —  than  to  familiarize  themselves, 
as  he  did,  by  constant  perusal,  with  our  English  Bible. 

[Payne,  Introduction  to  Burke,  Select  Works,  I.  xxxv-xxxvi.] 

There  is  a  passage  in  the  former  [Burke's  Address  to  the  King] 
which  Lord  Grenville  thought  the  finest  that  Burke  ever  wrote  — 
perhaps  the  finest  in  the  English  language,  —  beginning,  '  What, 
gracious  Sovereign,  is  the  empire  of  America  to  us,  or  the  empire 
of  the  world,  if'  we  lose  our  own  liberties?'  whi9h  was  evidently 
suggested  by  the  passage  in  St.  Matthew,  '  What  sViall  a  man  give 
in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?  '  In  the  sections  of  his  works  in  which 
this  grave  simplicity  is  most  prominent,  Burke  frequently  employed 
the  impressive  phrases  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  affording  a  signal 
illustration  of  th^  truth  that  he  neglects  the  most  valuable  reposi- 
tory of  rhetoric  in  the  English  language  who  has  not  well  studied 
the  Eaglish  Bible. 


SAINTSB  UR  Y.  xxxvii 

3.   The  King  James  Version. 

[Saintsbury,  History  of  Elizabethan  Literature,  Chap.  6.] 

But  great  as  are  Bacon  and  Raleigh,  they  cannot  approach,  as 
writers  of  prose,  the  company  of  scholarly  divines  who  produced 
—  what  is  probably  the  greatest  prose  work  in  any  language  —  the 
Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible  in  English.  Now  that  there  is 
at  any  rate  some  fear  of  this  masterpiece  ceasing  to  be  what  it  has 
been  for  three  centuries  —  the  school  and  training  ground  of  every 
man  and  woman  of  English  speech  in  the  noblest  uses  of  English 
tongue  —  every  one  who  values  his  mother  tongue  is  more  espe- 
cially bound  to  put  on  record  his  own  allegiance  to  it.  .  .  . 

The  advantages  which,  in  a  manner  at  least,  were  peculiar  to 
themselves,  may  be  divided  into  two  classes.  They  were  in  the 
very  centre  of  the  great  literary  ferment  of  which  in  this  volume 
I  am  striving  to  give  a  history  as  little  inadequate  as  possible. 
They  had  in  the  air  around  them  an  English  purged  of  archaisms 
and  uncouthnesses,  fully  adapted  to  every  literary  purpose,  and  yet 
still  racy  of  the  soil,  and  free  from  that  burden  of  hackneyed  and- 
outworn  literary  platitudes  and  commonplaces  with  which  centu- 
ries of  voluminous  literary  production  have  vitiated  and  loaded 
the  English  of  our  own  day.  They  were  not  afraid  of  latinizing, 
but  they  had  an  ample  stock  of  the  pure  vernacular  to  draw  on. 
These  things  may  be  classed  together.  On  the  other  side,  but 
equally  healthful,  may  be  put  the  fact  that  the  style  and  stnicture 
of  the  originals  and  earlier  versions,  and  especially  that  verse 
division  which  has  been  now  so  unwisely  abandoned,  served  as 
safeguards  against  the  besetting  sin  of  all  })rose  writers  of  their 
time,  the  habit  of  indulging  in  long  wandering  sentences,  in  para- 
graphs destitute  of  proportion  and  of  grace,  destitute  even  of  ordi- 
nary manageableness  and  shape.  The  verses  saved  them  from 
that  once  for  all ;  while  on  the  other  hand  their  own  taste,  and 
the  help  given  by  the  structure  of  the  original  in  some  cases,  pre- 
vented them  from  losing  siiiht  of  the  wood  for  the  trees,  and 
omitting  to  consider  the  relation  of  verse  to  verse,  as  well  as  the 


xxxviii  ILLUSTRATIVE   COMMENTS. 

antiphony  of  the  clauses  within  the  verse.  Men  without  literary 
faculty  might  no  doubt  have  gone  wrong ;  but  these  were  men  of 
great  literary  faculty,  whose  chief  liabilities  to  error  were  guarded 
against  precisely  by  the  very  conditions  in  which  they  found  their 
work.     The  hour  had  come  exactly,  and  so  for  once  had  the  men. 

The  result  of  their  labors  is  so  universally  known  that  it  is  not 
necessary  to  say  very  much  about  it ;  but  the  mere  fact  of  the 
universal  knowledge  carries  with  it  a  possibility  of  under-valuation. 
In  another  place,  dealing  with  the  general  subject  of  English 
prose  style,  I  have  selected  the  sixth  and  seventh  verses  of  the 
eighth  chapter  of  Solomon's  Song  as  the  best  example  known  to 
me  of  absolutely  perfect  English  prose  —  harmonious,  modulated, 
yet  in  no  sense  trespassing  the  limits  of  prose  and  becoming 
poetry.  I  have  in  the  same  place  selected,  as  a  companion  pas- 
sage from  a  very  different  original,  the  Charity  passage  of  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  .  .  . 

The  days  of  creation  ;  the  narratives  of  Joseph  and  his  brethren, 
of  Ruth,  of  the  final  defeat  of  Ahab,  of  the  discomfiture  of  the 
Assyrian  host  of  Sennacherib ;  the  moral  discourses  of  Ecclesiastes 
and  Ecclesiasticus  and  the  Book  of  Wisdom  ;  the  poems  of  the- 
Psalms  and  the  Prophets ;  the  visions  of  the  Revelation,  —  a 
hundred  other  passages  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  catalogue, — 
will  always  be  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  English  composition  in  their 
several  kinds,  and  the  storehouse  from  which  generation  after  gen- 
eration of  writers,  sometimes  actually  hostile  to  rehgion  and  often 
indifferent  to  it,  will  draw  the  materials,  and  not  unfrequently  the 
actual  form,  of  their  most  impassioned  and  elaborate  passages.  .  .  . 
The  plays  of  Shakespeare  and  the  English  Bible  are,  and  will  ever 
be,  the  twin  monuments  not  merely  of  their  own  period,  but  of 
the  perfection  of  English,  the  complete  expressions  of  the  literary 
capacities  of  the  language,  at  the  time  when  it  had  lost  none  of  its 
pristine  vigor,  and  had  put  on  enough  but  not  too  much  of  the 
adornments  and  the  limitations  of  what  may  be  called  literary 
civilization. 


GREEN.  Xxxix 

[Grf.e.v,  History  of  the  English  People,  Bk.  7,  Chap,  i.] 

Religion  indeed  was  only  one  of  the  causes  for*  this  sudden 
popularity  of  the  Bible.  The  book  was  equally  important  in  its 
bearing  on  the  intellectual  development  of  the  people.  All  the 
prose  literature  of  England,  save  the  forgotten  tracts  of  Wyclif, 
has  grown  up  since  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  by  Tyndale 
and  Coverdale.  So  far  as  the  nation  at  large  was  concerned,  no 
history,  no  romance,  hardly  any  poetry  save  the  little-known  verse 
of  Chaucer,  existed  in  the  F^nglish  tongue  when  the  Bible  was 
ordered  to  be  set  up  in  churches.  Sunday  after  Sunday,  day  after 
day,  the  crowds  that  gathered  round  the  Bible  in  the  nave  of  St. 
Paul's,  or  the  family  group  that  hung  on  its  words  in  the  devo- 
tional exercises  at  home,  were  leavened  with  a  new  literature. 
Legend  and  annal,  war  song  and  psalm.  State-roll  and  biography, 
the  mighty  voices  of  prophets,  the  parables  of  Evangelists,  stories 
of  mission  journeys,  of  perils  by  the  sea  and  among  the  heathen, 
philosophic  arguments,  apocalyptic  visions,  all  were  flung  broad- 
cast over  minds  unoccupied  for  the  most  paij  by  any  rival  learn- 
ing. The  disclosure  of  the  stores  of  Greek  literature  had  wrought 
the  revolution  of  the  Renascence.  The  disclosure  of  the  older 
mass  of  Hebrew  literature  wrought  the  revolution  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. But  the  one  revolution  was  far  deeper  and  wider  in  its 
effects  than  the  other.  No  version  could  transfer  to  another 
tongue  the  peculiar  charm  of  language  which  gave  their  value  to 
the  authors  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Classical  letters  therefore  re- 
mained in  the  possession  of  the  learned,  that  is,  of  the  few  ;  and 
among  these,  with  the  exception  of  Colet  and  More,  or  of  the 
pedants  who  revived  a  Pagan  worship  in  the  gardens  of  the  Flor- 
entine Academy,  their  direct  influence  was  purely  intellectual. 
But  the  language  of  the  Hebrew,  the  idiom  of  the  Hellenistic 
Greek,  lent  themselves  with  a  curious  felicity  to  the  purposes  of 
translation.  As  a  mere  literary  monument,  the  English  version 
of  the  Bible  remains  the  noblest  example  of  the  English  tongue, 
while  its  perpetual  use  made  it,  from  the  instant  of  its  appearance, 
the  standard  of  our  language. 


xl  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

For  the  moment,  however,  its  Hterary  effect  was  less  than  its 
social.  The  power  of  the  book  over  the  mass  of  Englishmen 
showed  itself  in  a  thousand  superficial  ways,  and  in  none  more 
conspicuously  than  in  the  influence  it  exerted  on  ordinary  speech. 
It  formed,  we  must  repeat,  the  whole  literature  which  was  practi- 
cally accessible  to  ordinary  Englishmen ;  and  when  we  recall  the 
number  of  common  phrases  which  we  owe  to  great  authors,  the 
bits  of  Shakespeare,  or  Milton,  or  Dickens,  or  Thackeray,  which 
unconsciously  interweave  themselves  in  our  ordinary  talk,  we  shall 
better  understand  the  strange  mosaic  of  Biblical  words  and  phrases 
which  colored  English  talk  two  hundred  years  ago.  The  mass  of 
picturesque  allusion  and  illustration  which  we  borrow  from  a  thou- 
sand books,  our  fathers  were  forced  to  borrow  from  one  ;  and  the 
borrowing  was  the  easier  and  the  more  natural  that  the  range  of 
the  Hebrew  literature  fitted  it  for  the  expression  of  every  phase 
of  feeling.  When  Spenser  poured  forth  his  warmest  love-notes  in 
the  '  Epithalamion,'  he  adopted  the  very  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
as  he  bade  the  gates  open  for  the  entrance  of  his  bride.  When 
Cromwell  saw  the  mists  break  over  the  hills  of  Dunbar,  he  hailed 
the  sunburst  with  the  cry  of  David  :  'Let  God  arise,  and  let  his- 
enemies  be  scattered.  I>ike  as  the  smoke  vanisheth,  so  shalt  thou 
drive  them  away  ! '  Even  to  common  minds  this  familiarity 
with  grand  poetic  imagery  in  prophet  and  apocalypse  gave  a  lofti- 
ness and  ardor  of  expression  that,  with  all  its  tendency  to  exagger- 
ation and  bombast,  we  may  prefer  to  the  slipshod  vulgarisms  of 
to-day. 

[William  Tvndale,  The   Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man 
(1528),  Preface.] 

The  Greek  tongue  agreeth  more  with  the  English  than  with  the 
I^tin.  And  the  properties  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  agreeth  a  thou- 
sand times  more  with  the  English  than  with  the  Latin.  The  man- 
ner of  speaking  is  both  one,  so  that  in  a  thousand  places  thou 
needest  not  but  to  translate  it  into  the  English  word  for  word, 
when  thou  must  seek  a  compass  in  the  Latin,  and  yet  shalt  have 


MARSH.  xli 

much  work  to  translate  it  well-favoredly,  so  that  it  have  the  same 
grace  and  sweetness,  sense  and  pure  understanding  with  it  in  the 
Latin  and  as  it  hath  in  the  Hebrew.  A  thousand  parts  better  may 
it  be  translated  into  the  English  than  into  the  Latin. 

[Marsh,  Lectures  on  the  English  Language,  I^ectures  4  and  28.] 

When  an  intelligent  foreigner  commences  the  study  of  F^nglish, 
he  finds  every  page  sprinkled  with  words  whose  form  unequivo- 
cally betrays  a  Greek  or  Latin  origin.  .  .  .  Further  study  would 
teach  him  that  he  had  overrated  the  importance  and  relative 
amount  of  the  foreign  ingredients  ;  that  many  of  our  seemingly 
insignificant  and  barbarous  consonantal  monosyllables  are  preg- 
nant with  the  mightiest  thoughts,  and  alive  with  the  deepest  feel- 
ing ;  that  the  language  of  the  purposes  and  the  affections,  of  the 
will  and  of  the  heart,  is  genuine  English-bom ;  that  the  dialect  of 
the  market  and  the  fireside  is  Anglo-Saxon  ;  that  the  vocabulary 
of  the  most  impressive  and  effective  pulpit  orators  has  been  almost 
wholly  drawn  from  the  same  pure  source  ;  that  the  advocate  who 
would  convince  the  technical  judge,  or  dazzle  and  confuse  the 
jury,  speaks  Latin  ;  while  he  who  would  touch  the  better  sensi- 
bilities of  his  audience,  or  rouse  the  multitude  to  vigorous  action, 
chooses  his  words  from  the  native  speech  of  our  ancient  father- 
land ;  that  the  domestic  tongue  is  a  language  of  passion  and  per- 
suasion, the  foreign,  of  authority,  or  of  rhetoric  and  debate  ;  that 
we  may  not  only  frame  single  sentences,  but  speak  for  hours,  with- 
out employing  a  single  imported  word  ;  and  finally  that  we  possess 
the  entire  vokvme  of  divine  revelation  in  the  truest,  clearest,  aptest 
form  in  which  human  ingenuity  has  made  it  accessible  to  modem 
man,  and  yet  with  a  vocabulary  wherein,  saving  proper  names  and 
terms  not  in  their  nature  translatable,  scarce  seven  words  in  the 
hundred  are  derived  from  any  foreign  source.  .  .  . 

The  general  result  of  a  comparison  between  the  diction  of  the 
English  Bible  and  that  of  the  secular  literature  of  England  is  that 
we  have  had,  from  the  very  dawn  of  our  literature,  a  sacred  and  a 
profane  dialect,  the  former  eminently  native,  idiomatic,  vemacu- 


xlii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

lar,  and  permanent,  the  latter  composite,  heterogeneous,  irregular, 
and  fluctuating  ;  the  one  pure,  natural,  and  expressive,  the  other 
mixed,  and  comparatively  distorted  and  conventional.  .  .  . 

It  will  generally  be  found  that  the  passages  of  the  Received  Ver- 
sion whose  diction  is  most  purely  Saxon  are  not  only  most  forci- 
ble in  expression,  but  also  the  most  faithful  transcripts  of  the  text, 
and  that  a  Latinized  style  is  seldom  employed  without  loss  of 
beauty  of  language,  and  at  the  same  time  of  exactness  in  corre- 
spondence. .  .  . 

The  subjects  of  the  Testaments,  Old  and  New,  are  taken  from 
very  primitive  and  inartificial  life.  With  the  exception  of  the 
writings  of  Paul,  and  in  a  less  degree  of  Luke,  there  is  little  evi- 
dence of  literary  culture  or  of  a  wide  and  varied  range  of  thought 
in  their  authors.  They  narrate  plain  facts,  and  they  promulgate 
doctrines,  profound  indeed,  but  addressed  less  to  the  speculative 
and  discursive  than  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  faculties,  and  hence, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  capabilities  of  Hebrew  and  of  classi- 
cal Oreek  for  other  purposes,  the  vocabulary  of  the  whole  Bible  is 
narrow  in  extent,  and  extremely  simple  in  character.  Now  in 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  when  the  development  of 
our  religious  dialect  was  completed,  the  English  mind  and  the 
English  language  were  generally  in  a  state  of  culture  much  more 
analogous  to  that  of  the  people  and  the  tongues  of  Palestine,  than 
they  have  been  at  any  subsequent  period.  Two  centuries  later, 
the  native  speech  had  been  greatly  subtilized,  if  not  refined.  Oood 
vernacular  words  had  been  supplanted  by  foreign  intruders,  com- 
prehensive ideas  and  their  vocabulary  had  been  split  up  into  arti- 
ficially discriminated  thoughts  and  a  corresponding  multitude 
and  variety  of  terms.  The  language  in  fact  had  become  too 
copious  and  too  specific  to  have  any  true  correspondences  with 
so  simple  and  inartificial  a  diction  as  that  of  the  Christian  Scrip- 
tures. IL'ui  the  IJible  then  for  the  first  time  appeared  in  an 
English  dress,  the  translators  would  have  been  perplexed  and  con- 
founded with  the  multitude  of  terms,  each  expressing  a  fragment, 
few  the  whole,  of  the  meaning  of  the  original  words  for  which 
they  must  stand  ;  and  whereas  three  hundred  years  ago  but  one 


SOUTH.  xliii 

good  translation  was  possible,  the  eighteenth  century  might  have 
produced  a  dozen,  none  altogether  good,  but  none  much  worse 
than  another.  ... 

The  critical  study  of  English  has  but  just  commenced.  We  are 
at  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  its  history.  Great  as  are  its 
powers,  men  are  beginning  to  feel  that  its  necessities  are  still 
greater.  There  is  among  its  authors  an  evident  stretching  out 
for  additional  facilities  of  expression,  and  as  a  means  to  this  end 
a  deeper  reaching  down  into  the  wells  of  its  latent  capabilities, 
and  hence,  as  I  have  so  often  remarked,  a  more  general  and  zeal- 
ous study  of  those  ancient  forms  of  Knglish,  out  of  which  was 
built  up  the  consecrated  dialect  of  our  mother  tongue. 


4.   Rhetorical  Features  of  Biblical  Langtiage. 

[South,  Chrisfs  Promise  the  Support  of  his  Despised  Ministers^ 

For  the  ability  of  speaking  conferred  upon  the  apostles.  It 
was  highly  requisite  that  those  who  were  to  be  the  interpreters 
and  spokesmen  of  heaven  should  have  a  rhetoric  taught  them 
from  thence  too,  and  as  much  beyond  any  that  could  be  taught 
them  by  human  rules  and  art  as  the  subjects  they  were  to  speak 
of  surpassed  the  subject  of  all  human  eloquence. 

Now  this  ability  of  speech,  I  conceive,  was  to  be  attended  with 
these  three  properties  of  it :  — 

1.  Great  clearness  and  perspicuity. 

2.  An  unaffected  plainness  and  simplicity.     And, 

3.  A  suitable  and  becoming  zeal  or  fervor.     And, 

I.  For  its  perspicuity.  Christ  and  his  apostles  well  knew  that 
the  great  truth  delivered  by  them  would  support  itself,  and  that 
barely  to  deliver  it  would  be  abundantly  sufficient  to  enforce  it, 
nakedness,  of  all  things,  being  never  able  to  make  truth  ashamed. 
There  was  nothing  false,  faulty,  or  suspicious  in  it,  and  therefore 
they  were  not  afraid  to  venture  it  in  the  plainest  and  most  intelli- 
gible language.  Where,  indeed,  the  thing  to  be  spoken  is  unwar- 
rantable, and  the  design  of  the  speaker  as  bad  or  worse,  there 


xliv  ILLUSTRATIVE   COMMENTS. 

I  confess  every  word  may  need  a  cloak  of  obscurity  both  to  cover 
and  protect  it  too  ;  but  truth  and  worth  neither  need  nor  affect  to 
keep  out  of  sight,  nor  the  lights  of  the  world  to  wrap  themselves  in 
a  cloud.  The  apostles  never  taught  men  to  preach  or  pray  in  an 
unknown  tongue,  nor  valued  such  devotion  as  had  ignorance  for 
its  parent.  Christ  still  closed  his  instructions  to  his  disciples  with 
this  question,  '  Do  ye  understand  these  things?'  And  we  find  no 
parable  but  the  rear  of  it  is  brought  up  with  an  explication.  For 
even  when  Christ  and  his  apostles  preached  the  most  mysterious 
truths  of  religion,  yet  then,  though  the  thing  uttered  might  non- 
plus their  reason,  the  way  and  manner  of  their  uttering  it  was 
plain,  easy,  and  famihar,  and  the  hearer  never  put  to  study  when 
it  was  his  business  only  to  hear  and  understand.  The  oracles  of 
Christ  were  not  like  those  of  Apollo,  doubtful  and  ambiguous, 
always  made  to  deceive,  and  commonly  to  destroy ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  as  the  grand  business  of  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles 
after  him  was  to  teach,  and  that  chiefly  in  order  to  persuade,  so 
they  well  knew  that  there  could  be  no  effectual  passage  into  the 
will  but  through  the  judgment,  nor  any  free  admission  into  the 
former  but  by  a  full  passport  from  the  latter.  And  therefore  we 
find  not  that  in  their  sermons  they  were  for  amusing  or  astonish- 
ing their  auditory  with  difficult  nothings,  rabbinical  whimseys,  and 
remote  allusions,  which  no  man  of  sense  and  solid  reason  can  hear 
without  weariness  and  contempt. 

Besides  that,  if  we  look  into  the  reason  of  the  thing  itself,  it  will 
be  found  that  all  obscurity  of  speech  is  resolvable  into  the  confu- 
sion and  disorder  of  the  speaker's  thoughts  :  for  as  thoughts  are 
properly  the  images  and  representations  of  objects  to  the  mind, 
and  words  the  representations  of  our  thoughts  to  others,  it  must 
needs  follow  that  all  faults  or  defects  in  a  man's  expressions  must 
presuppose  the  same  in  his  notions  first. 

In  short,  nothing  in  nature  can  be  imagined  more  absurd,  irra- 
tional, and  contrary  to  the  very  design  and  end  of  speaking,  than 
an  obscure  discourse  ;  for  in  that  case  the  preacher  may  as  well 
leave  his  tongue,  and  his  auditors  their  ears  behind  them,  as 
neither  he  communicate,  nor  they  understand,  any  more  of  his 


SOUTH.  xlv 

mind  and  meaning,  after  he  has  spoken  to  them,  than  they  did 
before. 

And  yet,  as  ridiculous  as  such  fustian  bombast  from  the  pulpit 
is,  none  are  so  transported  and  pleased  with  it  as  those  who  least 
understand  it.  For  still  the  greatest  admirers  of  it  are  the  gross- 
est, the  most  ignorant  and  illiterate  country  people,  who  of  all 
men  are  the  fondest  of  high-flown  metaphors  and  allegories, 
attended  and  set  off  with  scraps  of  Clreek  and  Latin,  though  not 
able  even  to  read  so  much  of  the  latter  as  might  save  their  necks 
upon  occasion. 

But  laying  aside  all  such  studied,  insignificant  trifles,  it  was  the 
clearness  of  the  apostles'  preaching  which  rendered  it  victorious 
and  irresistible.  And  this  we  may  rest  upon  as  certain,  that  he  is 
still  the  powerfullest  preacher  and  the  best  orator  who  can  make 
himself  best  understood.     But, 

2.  A  second  property  of  the  ability  of  speech  conferred  by 
Christ  upon  his  apostles  was  its  unaffected  plainness  and  simplicity  ; 
it  was  to  be  easy,  obvious,  and  familiar  ;  with  nothing  in  it  strained 
or  far-fetched  ;  no  affected  scheme,  or  airy  fancies,  above  the 
reach  or  relish  of  an  ordinary  apprehension ;  no,  nothing  of  all 
this ;  but  their  grand  subject  was  truth,  and  consequently  above 
all  these  petty  arts  and  poor  additions,  as  not  being  capable  of 
any  greater  lustre  or  advantage  than  to  appear  just  as  it  is.  For 
there  is  a  certain  majesty  in  plainness ;  as  the  proclamation  of  a 
prince  never  frisks  it  in  tropes  or  fine  conceits,  in  numerous  and 
well-turned  periods,  but  commands  in  sober,  natural  expressions. 
A  substantial  beauty,  as  it  comes  out  of  the  hands  of  nature,  needs 
neither  paint  nor  patch  —  things  never  made  to  adorn,  but  to 
cover  something  that  would  be  hid.  It  is  with  expression,  and 
the  clothing  of  a  man's  conceptions,  as  with  the  clothing  of  a 
man's  body.  All  dress  and  ornament  supposes  imperfection,  as 
designed  only  to  supply  the  body  with  something  from  without, 
which  it  wanted,  but  had  not  of  its  own.  (laudery  is  a  pitiful  and 
a  mean  thing,  not  extending  further  than  the  surface  of  the  body  ; 
nor  is  the  highest  gallantry  considerable  to  any,  but  to  those 
who  would  hardly  be  considered  without  it ;  for  in  that  case  in- 


xlvi  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

deed  there  may  be  great  need  of  an  outside,  when  there  is  little  or 
nothing  within.  And  thus  also  it  is  with  the  most  necessary  and 
important  truths  ;  to  adorn  and  clothe  them  is  to  cover  them^  and 
that  to  obscure  them.  .  .  . 

'I  speak  the  words  of  soberness,'  said  St.  Paul  (Acts  26.  25). 
And  I  preach  the  Gospel  not  with  the  *  enticing  words  of  man's 
wisdom'  (i  Cor.  2.  4).  This  was  the  way  of  the  apostles'  dis- 
coursing of  things  sacred.  Nothing  here  of  '  the  fringes  of  the 
North  Star  ' ;  nothing  of  *  Nature's  becoming  unnatural ' ;  nothing 
of  the  *  down  of  angel's  wings,'  or  '  the  beautiful  locks  of  cheru- 
bims  ' ;  no  starched  similitudes,  introduced  with  a  '  Thus  have  I 
seen  a  cloud  rolling  in  its  airy  mansion,'  and  the  like.  No  ;  these 
were  sublimities  above  the  rise  of  the  apostolic  spirit.  For  the 
apostles,  poor  mortals,  were  content  to  take  lower  steps,  and  to 
tell  the  world  in  plain  terms  that  Jhe  who  believed  should  be  saved, 
and  that  he  who  beUeved  not  should  be  damned.  And  this  was 
the  dialect  which  pierced  the  conscience,  and  made  the  hearers 
cry  out,  '  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ? '  It  tickled  not 
the  ear,  but  sunk  into  the  heart ;  and  when  men  came  from  such 
sermons,  they  never  commended  the  preacher  for  his  taking  voice 
or  gesture,  for  the  fineness  of  such  a  simile,  or  the  quaintness  of 
such  a  sentence  ;  but  they  spoke  like  men  conquered  with  the 
overpowering  force  and  evidence  of  the  most  concerning  truths,  — 
much  in  the  words  of  the  two  disciples  going  to  Emmaus,  '  Did 
not  our  hearts  burn  within  us,  while  he  opened  to  us  the  Scrip- 
tures? ' 

In  a  word,  the  apostles'  preaching  was  therefore  mighty  and 
successful,  because  plain,  natural,  and  familiar,  and  by  no  means 
above  the  capacity  of  their  hearers  ;  nothing  being  more  prepos- 
terous than  for  those  who  were  professedly  aiming  at  men's  hearts 
to  miss  the  mark  by  shooting  over  their  heads. 

3.  The  gift  of  preaching,  conferred  by  Christ  upon  his  apostles, 
required  a  suitable  zeal  and  fervor  to  attend  it ;  for  without  this, 
as  high  and  important  a  truth  as  the  gospel  preached  by  them 
was,  none  would  have  believed  that  it  had  any  powerful  effect 
upon  the  preacher's  own  affections,  nor  consequently  that  it  could 


SOUTH.  xlvii 

have  wrought  at  all  more  upon  other  men's  ;  this  is  most  certain. 
So  true  is  it  that  the  same  things,  differently  expressed,  as  to  the 
proper  effects  of  persuasion  are  indeed  not  the  same.  A  cold  in- 
difference dispirits  a  discourse  ;  but  a  due  fervor  gives  it  life  and 
authority,  and  sends  it  home  to  the  inmost  powers  of  the  soul, 
with  an  easy  insinuation  and  a  deep  impression.  .  .  . 

Thus  when  Christ  accosted  Jemsalem  with  that  melting  expro- 
bration  in  Matt.  23.  37,  38,  '  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that 
killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  that  are  sent  unto  thee,  how 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not  !  Be- 
hold, your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate.'  Now  what  a  relenting 
strain  of  tenderness  was  there  in  this  reproof  from  the  great  Doc- 
tor as  well  as  Saviour  of  souls,  and  how  infinitely  more  moving 
than  if  he  had  said  only,  '  ()  ye  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  how 
wicked  and  barbarous  is  it  in  you  thus  to  persecute  and  stone 
God's  prophets  !  And  how  can  you  but  expect  some  severe  judg- 
ment from  God  upon  you  for  it  ? '  Who,  I  say,  sees  not  the  vast 
difference  in  these  two  ways  of  address,  as  to  the  vigor  and  win- 
ning compassion  of  the  one,  and  the  low,  dispirited  flatness  of  the 
other  in  comparison?  Likewise  for  St.  Paul,  observe  how  he 
uttered  himself  in  his  excellent  farewell  discourse  to  the  elders  of 
Ephesus  (Acts  20,  from  verse  18  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  and 
particularly  in  verse  31).  '  Remember,'  says  he,  '  how  that  for  the 
space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and  day 
with  tears.'  These  were  the  arguments  here  used  by  this  great 
apostle,  arguments  in  comparison  of  which  he  knew  that  the  most 
flowing  rhetoric  of  words  would  be  but  a  poor  and  faint  persua- 
sive. And  then  again,  in  2  Cor.  11.  29,  with  what  a  true  and 
tender  passion  does  he  lay  forth  his  fatherly  care  and  concern  for 
all  the  churches  of  Christ  I  *  Who,'  says  he,  '  is  weak,  and  I  am 
not  weak?  who  is  offended,  and  I  burn  not?'  Than  which  words 
nothing  doubtless  could  have  issiicd  from  the  tongue  or  heart  of 
man  more  endearing,  more  j)athetical  and  affectionate. 


xlviii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

[South,  The  Stride  Instructed.^ 

In  Clod's  word  we  have  not  only  a  body  of  religion,  but  also  a 
system  of  the  best  rhetoric  ;  and  as  the  highest  things  require  the 
highest  expressions,  so  we  shall  find  nothing  in  Scripture  so  sub- 
lime in  itself,  but  it  is  reached,  and  sometimes  overtopped,  by  the 
sublimity  of  the  expression.  And  first,  where  did  majesty  ever 
ride  in  more  splendor  than  in  those  descriptions  of  the  divine 
power  in  Job,  in  the  38th,  39th,  and  40th  chapters?  And  what 
triumph  was  ever  celebrated  with  higher,  livelier,  and  more  exalted 
poetry  than  in  the  Song  of  Moses  in  the  3 2d  of  Deuteronomy? 
And  then  for  the  passions  of  the  soul  —  which  being  things  of  the 
highest  transport  and  most  wonderful  and  various  operation  in 
human  nature,  are  therefore  the  proper  object  and  business  of 
rhetoric  —  let  us  take  a  view  how  the  Scripture  expresses  the 
most  noted  and  powerful  of  them.  And  here,  what  poetry  ever 
paralleled  Solomon  in  his  description  of  love,  as  to  all  the  ways, 
effects,  and  ecstasies,  and  little  tyrannies  of  that  commanding  pas- 
sion? See  Ovid,  with  his  Omnia  inncit  amor,  etc.,  and  Virgil, 
with  his  Vuinus  alit  venis  et  ccrco  carpiitir  igni,  etc. ;  how  jejune 
and  thin  are  they  to  the  poetry  of  Solomon,  in  the  8th  chapter  of 
the  Canticles  and  the  6th  verse,  '  Love  is  strong  as  death,  and 
jealousy  cruel  as  the  grave  I '  .\nd  as  for  his  description  of  beauty, 
he  describes  that  so,  that  he  even  transcribes  it  into  his  expres- 
sions. And  where  do  we  read  such  strange  risings  and  fallings, 
now  the  faintings  and  languishings,  now  the  terrors  and  astonish- 
ments of  despair,  venting  themselves  in  such  high,  amazing  strains 
as  in  the  77th  Psalm?  Or  where  did  we  ever  find  sorrow  flowing 
forth  in  such  a  natural,  prevailing  pathos,  as  in  the  Lamentations 
of  Jeremy?  One  would  think  that  every  letter  was  wrote  with  a 
tear,  every  word  was  the  noise  of  a  breaking  heart ;  that  the  author 
was  a  man  compacted  of  sorrows,  disciplined  to  grief  from  his 
infancy,  one  who  never  breathed  but  in  sighs,  nor  spoke  but  in  a 
groan.  So  that  he  who  said  he  would  not  read  the  Scripture  for 
fear  of  spoiling  his  style  showed  himself  as  much  a  blockhead  as 
an  atheist,  and  to  have  as  small  a  gust  of  the  elegancies  of  expres- 


CARDINAL  NEWMAN.  xlix 

sion  as  of  the  sacredness  of  the  matter.  And  shall  we  now  think 
that  the  Scripture  forbids  all  ornament  of  speech,  and  engages 
men  to  be  dull,  flat,  and  slovenly  in  all  their  discourses?  But  let 
us  look  a  little  further,  and  see  whether  the  New  Testament  abro- 
gates what  we  see  so  frequently  used  in  the  Old.  And  for  this, 
what  mean  all  the  parables  used  by  our  Saviour,  the  known  and 
greatest  elegancies  of  speech  ?  So  that  if  this  way  was  unlawful 
before,  Christ  by  his  example  has  authorized  and  sanctified  it 
since;  and  if  good  and  lawful,  has  confirmed  it. 

[Cardinal  Newman,  Idea  of  a  University,  pp.  289-290.] 

Scripture  not  elaborate  !  Scripture  not  ornamented  in  diction, 
and  musical  in  cadence  !  Why,  consider  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews —  where  is  there  in  the  classics  any  composition  more  care- 
fully, more  artificially  written?  Consider  the  book  of  Job  —  is  it 
not  a  sacred  drama,  as  artistic,  as  perfect,  as  any  Greek  tragedy 
of  Sophocles  or  Euripides?  Consider  the  Psalter  —  are  there  no 
ornaments,  no  rhythm,  no  studied  cadences,  no  responsive  mem- 
bers, in  that  divinely  beautiful  book  ?  And  is  it  not  hard  to  under- 
stand ?  are  not  the  Prophets  hard  to  understand  ?  is  not  St.  Paul 
hard  to  understand  ?  Who  can  say  that  these  are  popular  compo- 
sitions? who  can  say  that  they  are  level  at  first  reading  with  the 
understandings  of  the  multitude  ? 

That  there  are  portions  indeed  of  the  inspired  volume  more 
simple  both  in  style  and  in  meaning,  and  that  these  are  the  more 
sacred  and  sublime  passages,  as,  for  instance,  parts  of  the  Gospels, 
I  grant  at  once  ;  but  this  does  not  militate  against  the  doctrine 
I  have  been  laying  down.  ...  I  have  said  Literature  is  one 
thing,  and  that  Science  is  another  ;  that  Literature  has  to  do  with 
ideas,  and  Science  with  realities  ;  that  Literature  is  of  a  personal 
character,  that  Science  treats  of  what  is  universal  and  eternal.  In 
proportion,  then,  as  Scripture  excludes  the  personal  coloring  of  its 
writers,  and  rises  into  the  region  of  pure  and  mere  inspiration, 
when  it  ceases  in  any  sense  to  be  the  writing  of  man,  of  St.  Paul 
or  St.  John,  of  Moses  or  Isaias,  then  it  comes  to  belong  to  Sci- 


1  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

ence,  not  Literature.  Then  it  conveys  the  things  of  heaven, 
unseen  verities,  divine  manifestations,  and  them  alone  —  not  the 
ideas,  the  feeHngs,  the  aspirations,  of  its  human  instruments, 
who,  for  all  that  they  were  inspired  and  infallible,  did  not  cease 
to  be  men.  St.  Paul's  epistles,  then,  I  consider  to  be  literature 
in  a  real  and  true  sense,  as  personal,  as  rich  in  reflection  and 
emotion,  as  Demosthenes  or  Euripides  ;  and,  without  ceasing  to 
be  revelations  of  objective  truth,  they  are  expressions  of  the  sub- 
jective notwithstanding.  On  the  other  hand,  portions  of  the  Gos- 
pels, of  the  book  of  Genesis,  and  other  passages  of  the  Sacred 
Volume,  are  of  the  nature  of  Science.  Such  is  the  beginning  of 
St.  John's  Gospel.  .  .  .  Such  is  the  Creed.  I  mean,  passages 
such  as  these  are  the  mere  enunciation  of  eternal  things,  without 
(so  to  say)  the  medium  of  any  human  mind  transmitting  them  to 
us.  The  words  used  have  the  grandeur,  the  majesty,  the  calm 
unimpassioned  beauty  of  Science ;  they  are  in  no  sense  Litera- 
ture, they  are  in  no  sense  personal ;  and  therefore  they  are  easy  to 
apprehend,  and  easy  to  translate. 


5.    Rhythm  of  the  Bible. 

[Wahs,  in  EncyclopcBdia  Britannlca,  ninth  edition.  Article 
Poetry.~\ 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said  that  deeper  than  all  the  rhythms  of  art 
is  that  rhythm  which  art  would  fain  catch,  the  rhythm  of  nature  ; 
for  the  rhythm  of  nature  is  the  rhythm  of  life  itself.  This  rhythm 
can  be  caught  by  prose  as  well  as  by  poetry,  such  prose,  for 
instance,  as  that  of  the  English  Bible.  Certainly  the  rhythm  of 
verse  at  its  highest,  such,  for  instance,  as  that  of  Shakespeare's 
greatest  writings,  is  nothing  more  and  nothing  less  than  the 
metre  of  that  energy  of  the  spirit  which  surges  within  the  bosom 
of  him  who  speaks,  whether  he  speak  in  verse  or  in  impassioned 
prose.  Being  rhythm,  it  is  of  course  governed  by  law,  but  it  is  a 
law  which  transcends  in  subtlety  the  conscious  art  of  the  metricist, 
and  is  only  caught  by  the  poet  in  his  most  inspired  moods,  a  law 


DE  MILLE,  H 

which,  being  part  of  nature's  own  sanctions,  can  of  course  never 
be  formulated,  but  only  expressed  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  melody 
of  the  bird,  in  the  inscrutable  harmony  of  the  entire  bird-chorus  of 
a  thicket,  in  the  whisper  of  the  leaves  of  the  tree,  and  in  the  song 
or  wail  of  wind  and  sea.  Now  is  not  this  rhythm  of  nature  repre- 
sented by  that  '  sense  rhythm '  which  prose  can  catch  as  well  as 
poetry,  that  sense  rhythm  whose  finest  expressions  are  ^p  be  found 
in  the  Bible,  Hebrew  and  English,  and  in  the  Biblical  movements 
of  the  English  Prayer  Book,  and  in  the  dramatic  prose  of  Shake- 
speare at  its  best  ?  Whether  it  is  caught  by  prose  or  by  verse,  one 
of  the  virtues  of  the  rhythm  of  nature  is  that  it  is  translatable. 
Hamlet's  peroration  about  man  and  Raleigh's  apostrophe  to  death 
are  as  translatable  into  other  languages  as  are  the  Hebrew  Psalms, 
or  as  is  Manu's  magnificent  passage  about  the  singleness  of  man 
(we  quote  from  memory)  :  — 

Single  is  each  man  born  into  the  world;  single  he  dies;  single  he  receives 
the  reward  of  his  good  deeds,  and  single  the  punishment  of  his  evil  deeds. 
When  he  dies  his  body  lies  like  a  fallen  tree  upon  the  earth,  but  his  virtue 
accompanies  his  soul.  Wherefore  let  man  harvest  and  garner  virtue,  so  that 
he  may  have  an  inseparable  companion  in  traversing  that  gloom  which  is  so 
hard  to  be  traversed. 

Here  the  rhythm,  being  the  inevitable  movement  of  emoti  )n  and 
'sense,'  can  be  caught  and  translated  by  every  literature  under 
the  sun. 

[De  Mih.e,  Ekments  of  Rhetoric,  §  299.] 

The  greatest  writers  of  ancient  and  modern  times  have  sought 
to  inftise  into  their  style  something  which  should  appeal  to  the 
musical  sensibihty,  and  many  noble  passages  in  prose  literature 
exert  an  influence  difficult  to  define,  yet  so  powerful  that  they 
affect  the  heart  and  cling  to  the  memory.  Their  meaning  is  in 
such  cases  enlarged  and  reinforced  by  the  subtle  yet  potent  aid 
of  harmony  ;  and  while  the  thought  affects  the  mind,  the  music 
charms  the  ear.  Two  things  are  to  be  observed  in  such  writings  : 
first,  the  sound  of  the  individual  words ;  and,  secondly,  their 
arrangement,  with  the  recurrence  of  pauses  at  such  intervals  as 


lii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

shall  produce  a  certain  harmonious  rise  and  fall  of  tone.     These 
constitute  rhythm  in  prose. 

Many  passages  in  the  English  Bible  exhibit  a  matchless  beauty 
of  rhythm  :  — 

Or  ever  the  silver  cord  be  loosed  —  or  the  golden  bowl  be  broken  —  or  the 
pitcher  be  broken  at  the  fountain — or  the  wheel  broken  at  the  cistern.  Then 
shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was — ami  the  spirit  shall  return  unto 
God  who  gave  it. 

Lord  —  thou  Jiast  been  our  dwelling-place  in  all  generations. 

Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth  —  or  ever  thou  hadst  formed  the 
earth  and  the  world  —  even  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  —  thou  art  God. 

These  are  they  which  came  out  of  great  tribulation  —  and  have  washed 
their  robes  —  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

If  these  passages  be  read  with  attention  to  the  rhetorical  pauses, 
as  marked,  their  euphonious  flow  and  solemn  and  varied  rhythm 
will  not  fail  to  be  apparent.  It  would  be  difficult  to  furnish  any 
other  translation  from  their  originals  which  could  equal  them  in 
this  respect. 

Rhythm  in  prose  may  be  defined  as  the  alternate  swelling  and 
lessening  of  sound  at  certain  intervals.  It  refers  to  the  general 
effect  of  sentences  and  paragraphs,  where  the  words  are  chosen 
and  arranged  so  as  not  only  to  express  the  meaning  of  the  writer, 
but  also  to  furnish  a  musical  accompaniment  which  shall  at  once 
delight  the  ear  by  its  sound,  and  help  out  the  sense  by  its  sug- 
gestiveness. 


[Saintsbury,  SpeciiHcns  of  English  Prose  Style,  Introduction.] 

Now  the  requirement  of  a  perfect  prose  rhythm  is  that,  while  it 
admits  of  indication  by  quantity-marks,  and  even  by  divisions 
int<j  feet,  the  simplicity  ^nd  ecjuivalence  of  feet  within  the  clause 
answering  to  the  line  are  absent,  and  the  exact  correspondence  of 
clause  for  clause,  that  is  to  say,  of  line  for  line,  is  absent  also,  and 
still  more  necessarily  absent.  Let  us  take  an  example.  I  know 
no  more  jierfect  example  of  P^nglish  prose  rhythm  than  the  famous 
verses  of  the  last  chapter  of  the  Canticles  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 


GESENWS.  liii 

sion  ;  I  am  not  certain  that  I  know  any  so  perfect.  Here  they  arc 
arranged  for  the  purpose  of  exhibition  in  clause-hnes,  quantified 
and  divided  into  feet. 

Set  me  I  as  a  seal  |  upon  thine  heart  |  as  a  seal  |  upon  thine  arm  | 
For  love  |  is  strong  |  as  death  |  jealousj?  |  is  cruel  |  as  the  grave  | 
The  coals  thereof  |  are  coals  |  of  fire  |  which  hath  |  a  most  ve  |  hcment  flame  | 
Many  waters  |  cannot  quench  love  |  neither  |  can  the  floods  |  drown  it  | 
If  a  man  |  should  give  |  all  the  sub |  stance  |  of  his  house  |  for  love  |  it  shodld 
iit|terly  be  contemned.  | 

I  by  no  means  give  the  quantification  of  this,  or  the  distribution 
into  Hnes  and  feet,  as  final  or  impeccable,  though  I  think  it  is,  on 
the  whole  —  as  a  good  elocutionist  would  read  the  passage  — 
accurate  enough.  But  the  disposition  will,  I  think,  be  sufficient 
to  convince  any  one  who  has  an  ear  and  a  slight  acquaintance  with 
res  melrica,  that  here  is  a  system  of  rhythm  irreducible  to  poetic 
form.  The  movement  of  the  whole  is  perfectly  harmonious, 
ex(iuisitely  modulated,  finally  complete.  But  it  is  the  harmony 
of  perfectly  modulated  speech,  not  of  song  ;  harmony,  in  short, 
but  not  melody,  divisible  into  clauses,  but  not  into  bars  or  staves, 
having  parts  which  continue  each  other,  but  do  not  correspond  to 
each  other.  .\  similar  example  may  be  found  in  the  almost  equally 
beautiful  Charity  passage  of  the  First  I^pistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

[Gf.sf.nr:s,   Geschich/t-  dcr  hebtdischen  Sprache  utui  Schrift,  jip. 

21  -22.] 

In  particular  there  exist  here  two  species  of  diction  side  by 
side,  the  i)rose  of  ordinary  historical  narrative  and  poetic  diction  ; 
the  latter,  with  all  its  peculiarities,  entering  likewise  into  the  his- 
torical books,  the  moment  prophecies,  blessings,  or  hymns  of 
praise  rise  to  the  plane  of  poetry.  This  poetical  language,  clear  as 
such  even  externally,  not,  it  is  tnie.  through  prosodic  measurement, 
but  rather  by  the  rhythmical  marking  off  of  periods,  and  the  paral- 
lelism which  characterizes  them,  has  likewise  many  peculiarities  in 
respect  to  language,  verbal  forms  and  meanings,  grammatical  con- 
stnictions,  etc.,  —  peculiarities  which  have  not  always  been  suffi- 


liv  ILLUSTRATIVE   COMMENTS. 

ciently  observed.  .  .  .  With  regard  to  rhythm  and  language,  the 
prophets  stand  midway  between  poetry  and  prose  ;  however,  those 
of  the  golden  age  closely  resemble  the  poets,  and  it  is  only  the 
later  ones,  like  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  who  approach  the  diction 
of  prose. 

[Driver,  Introduction  to  the  Literature  of  the   Old  Testament, 

Chap.  7.} 

Hebrew  Poetry. — Hebrew  poetry  reaches  back  to  the  most 
ancient  recollections  of  the  IsraeUtes  (Gen.  49.  Nu.  21,  17  f. 
27-30.  Jud.  5  &c.)  ;  probably,  as  with  other  nations,  it  was  the 
form  in  which  their  earliest  literary  efforts  found  expression. 
Many  poetical  pieces  are  preserved  in  the  historical  books  ;  and 
the  Books  of  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job  (the  Dialogue),  Song  of 
Songs,  and  Lamentations  are  entirely  poetical.  The  line  between 
poetry  and  elevated  prose  being,  moreover,  less  sharply  drawn  in 
Hebrew  than  in  Western  languages,  the  prophets  not  unfrequently 
rise  into  a  lyric  or  elegiac  strain  ;  and  even  the  author  of  Eccle- 
siastes  is  led  sometimes,  by  the  moralizing  character  of  his  dis- 
course, to  cast  his  thoughts  into  the  form  of  gnomic  poetry.  .  .  . 

Poetry  is  distinguished  from  prose  partly  by  the  character  of 
the  thoughts  of  which  it  is  the  exponent,  —  which  in  Hebrew 
poetry,  as  a  rule,  either  express  or  spring  out  of  an  emotion,  — 
partly  by  its  diction  (the  choice  and  order  of  words),  but  espe- 
cially by  its  rhythm.  The  onward  movement  of  emotion  is  not 
entirely  irregular  or  unrestrained  ;  it  is  checked,  or  interrupted,  at 
particular  intervals ;  and  the  flow  of  thought  has  to  accommodate 
itself  in  a  certain  degree  to  these  recurring  interruptions  ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  divided  into  lines.  In  most  Western  poetry  these 
lines  have  a  definite  metre  or  measure  :  they  consist,  viz.,  of  a 
fixed  number  of  syllables  (or  of  "feet")  :  in  some  cases  all  the 
lines  of  a  poem  being  of  the  same  length,  in  other  cases  lines  of 
different  length  alternating,  according  to  certain  prescribed  rules. 
To  the  modern  ear,  also,  the  satisfaction  which  the  recurrence  of 
lines  of  equable  length  produces,  is  often  enhanced  by  that  asso- 


DRIVER.  Iv 

nance  of  the  corresponding  lines  which  we  term  rime.  But  in 
ancient  Hebrew  poetry,  though  there  was  always  rhythm,  there 
was  (so  far  as  has  yet  been  discovered)  no  metre  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term ;  and  rime  appears  to  have  been  as  accidental 
as  it  was  with  the  classical  Latin  poets.  The  poetical  instincts  of 
the  Hebrews  appear  to  have  been  satisfied  by  the  adoption  of 
lines  of  approximately  the  same  length,  which  were  combined,  as 
a  rule,  into  groups  of  two,  three,  or  four  lines,  constituting  verses, 
the  verses  marking  usually  more  distinct  pauses  in  the  progress  of 
the  thought  than  the  separate  lines.  The  fundamental  (and  pre- 
dominant) form  of  the  Hebrew  verse  is  the  couplet  of  two  lines, 
the  second  line  either  repeating,  or  in  some  other  way  reinforcing 
or  completing,  the  thought  of  the  first.  In  the  verse  of  two  lines 
is  exemplified  also  the  principle  which  most  widely  regulates  the 
form  of  Hebrew  poetry,  the  parallelismus  membrorum  —  the  par- 
allelism of  two  clauses  of  approximately  the  same  length,  the 
second  clause  answering,  or  otherwise  completing,  the  thought  of 
the  first.  The  Hebrew  verse  does  not,  however,  consist  uniformly 
of  two  lines ;  the  addition  of  a  third  line  is  apt  especially  to  intro- 
duce an  element  of  irregularity  :  so  that  the  parallelismus  mem- 
brorum, though  an  important  canon  of  Hebrew  poetry,  is  not  the 
sole  principle  by  which  its  form  is  determined. 

The  significance  in  Hebrew  poetry  of  the  parallelism  of  clauses 
was  first  perceived  by  Rob.  Lowth,  who  thus  distinguished  its 
principal  varieties  :  — 

I.  Synonymous  parallelism.  In  this  kind  (which  is  the  most  frequent)  the 
second  line  enforces  the  thought  of  the  first  by  repeating,  and,  as  it  were, 
echoing  it  in  a  varied  form,  producing  an  effect  at  once  grateful  to  the  ear  and 
satisfying  to  the  mind  :   as  — 

Nu.  23,  8  How  shall  I  curse,  whom  God  hath  not  cursed? 

And  how  shall  I  defy,  whom  the  LoKD  hath  not  defied? 

Or  the  second  line  expresses  a  thought  not  indeed  identical  with  that  of  the 
first,  but  parallel  and  similar  to  it  — 

Josh.  10,  12   Sun,  stand  thou  still  upon  Gibeon; 

And  thou.  Moon,  upon  the  valley  of  Aijalon. 


Ivi  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

2.  Antithetic  parallelism.  Here  the  thought  of  the  first  line  is  emphasized, 
or  confirmed,  by  a  contrasted  thought  expressed  in  the  second.     Thus  — 

Pr.  lo,  I    A  wise  son  maketh  a  glad  father, 

But  a  foolish  son  is  the  heaviness  of  his  mother. 
Ps.  1,6  For  the  Lord  knoweth  the  way  of  the  righteous; 
But  the  way  of  the  wicked  shall  perish. 

This  kind  of  parallelism  is  most  frequent  in  gnomic  poetry,  where,  from  the 
nature  of  the  subject-matter,  antithetic  truths  are  often  contrasted. 

3.  Synthetic  or  constructive  parallelism.  Here  the  second  line  contains 
neither  a  repetition  nor  a  contrast  to  the  thought  of  the  first,  but  in  different 
ways  supplements  or  completes  it.  The  parallelism,  therefore,  is  merely  of 
form,  and  does  not  extend  to  the  thought  at  all.     E.g.  — 

Ps.  2,  6  Yet  I  have  set  my  king 
Upon  Zion,  my  holy  hill. 
Pr.  15,  17  Better  is  a  dinner  of  herbs  where  love  is, 
Than  a  stalled  ox  and  hatred  therewith. 

26,  4  Answer  not  a  fool  according  to  his  folly, 

Test  thou  also  be  like  unto  him. 

27,  8  As  a  bird  that  wandereth  from  her  nest. 

So  is  the  man  that  wandereth  from  his  place. 

A  comparison,  a  reason,  a  consequence,  a  motive,  often  constitutes  one  of  the 
lines  in  a  synthetic  parallelism. 

4.  A  fourth  kind  of  parallelism,  though  of  rare  occurrence,  is  still  suffi- 
ciently marked  to  be  noticed  by  the  side  of  those  described  by  Lowth,  viz. 
climactic  parallelism  (sometimes  called  "ascending  rhythm").  Here  the  first 
line  is  itself  incomplete,  and  the  second  line  takes  up  words  from  it  and  com- 
pletes them :  — 

Ps.  29,  I  Give  unto  the  Lord,  O  ye  sons  of  the  mighty, 

Give  unto  the  Lord  glory  and  strength.  , 

8  The  voice  of  the  Lord  shaketh  the  wilderness; 
The  L(jRD  shaketh  the  wilderness  of  A'adcsh. 
Ex.  15,  16''  Till  thy  people  pass  over,  O  Lord, 

Till  the  people  pass  over,  which  thou  hast  purchased.  .  .  . 

By  far  the  greater  number  of  verses  in  the  poetry  of  the  OT. 
consist  of  distichs  of  one  or  other  of  the  types  that  have  been 
illustrated  ;  though  naturally  every  individual  line  is  not  con- 
structed with  the  regularity  of  the  examples  selected  (which,  in- 


DRIVER.  Ivii 

deed,  especially  in  a  long  poem,  would  tend  to  monotony).     The 
following  are  the  other  principal  forms  of  the  Hebrew  verse  :  — 

1.  Single  lines,  or  monostichs.  These  are  found  but  rarely,  being  gener- 
ally used  to  express  a  thought  with  some  emphasis  at  the  beginning,  or  occa- 
sionally at  the  end,  of  a  poem:  Ps.  i6,  i.  i8,  i.  23,  i.  66,  i;   Kx.  15,  18. 

2.  Verses  of  three  lines,  or  tristichs.  Here  ditierenf  types  arise,  according 
to  the  relation  in  which  the  several  lines  stand  to  one  another.  Sometimes, 
for  instance,  the  three  lines  are  synonymous,  as  — 

I's.  5,  1 1    Hut  let  all  those  that  put  their  trust  in  thee  rejoice. 

Let  them  ever  shout  for  joy,  because  thou  defendest  them : 
And  let  them  that  love  thy  name  be  joyful  in  thee. 

Sometimes  a  and  b  are  parallel  in  thought,  and  c  completes  it  — 

Ps.  2,  2  The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves, 
And  the  rulers  take  council  together, 

Against  Jehovah,  and  against  his  anointed. 

Or  b  and  c  are  parallel  — 

Ps.  3,  7  Arise,  Jehovah ;  save  me,  O  my  God : 

For  thou  hast  smitten  all  mine  enemies  upon  the  check-bone; 
Thou  hast  broken  the  teeth  of  the  wicked. 

Or  a  and  c  may  be  parallel,  and  b  be  of  the  nature  of  a  parenthesis  — 

Ps.  4,  2  Answer  me,  when  I  call,  O  God  of  my  righteousness; 
Thou  hast  set  me  at  large  when  I  was  in  distress: 
Have  mercy  upon  me,  and  hear,  my  prayer. 

3.  Tttrastichs.  Here  generally  a  is  parallel  to  b,  and  c  is  parallel  to  d\ 
but  the  thought  is  only  complete  when  the  two  couplets  are  combined;  thus  — 

Gen.  49,  7  Cursed  be  their  anger,  for  it  was  tierce; 
And  their  wrath,  for  it  was  cruel : 
•  I  will  divide  them  in  Jacob, 

And  scatter  them  in  Israel. 

So  Dt.  32,  21.  30.  38.  41.  Is.  49,  4.  59,  3.  4  '!vc. 

Sometimes,  however,  a  is  parallel  to  <,  and  b  Ko  J  — 

Ps.  55,  21    His  mouth  was  smooth  as  butter, 
Rut  his  heart  was  war; 
His  words  were  softer  than  oil, 
Yet  were  they  drawn  swords. 

So  Ps.  40,  14.  127,  I.  Dt.  32,  42   Is.  30,  i6.  44,  5.  49,  2. 


Iviii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

Occasionally  a  corresponds  to  d,  and  b  \.o  c  ;   this  is  called  technically  "  in- 
troverted parallelism,"  but  is  of  rare  occurrence;  see  Pr.  23,  15  f.   Is.  11,  13 
(Cheyne),  59,  8. 
Or  a,  b,  c  are  parallel,  but  d  is  more  or  less  independent  — 

Ps.  I,  3  And  he  is  as  a  tree  planted  by  streams  of  water, 
That  bringeth  forth  its  fruit  in  its  season, 
And  whose  leaf  doth  not  wither  : 
And  whatsoever  he  doeth  he  maketh  to  prosper. 

Or  a  is  independent,  and  b,  c,  d  are  parallel  — 

Pr.  24,  12  If  thou  sayest,  Behold,  we  knew  not  this; 

Doth  not  he  that  weigheth  the  hearts  consider  it? 

And  he  that  keepeth  thy  soul,  doth  not  he  know  it? 

And  shall  not  he  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  work  ? 

Or  it  may  even  happen  that  the  four  members  stand  in  no  determinate  rela- 
tion to  one  another;  see  e.g.  Ps.  40,  17. 

4.  and  5.  Verses  of  five  lines  {pentastichs)  occur  but  seldom  in  the  OT., 
and  those  of  six  lines  (kexastic/is)  are  still  rarer;  see  for  the  former,  Nu.  24,  8. 
Dt.  32,  14.  39.  I  Sa.  2,  10.  Ps.  39,  12.  Cant.  3,  4;  for  the  latter,  Nu.  24,  17. 
I  Sa.  2,  8.  Cant.  4,  8.  Hab.  3,  17  (three  distichs,  closely  united). 

The  finest  and  most  perfect  specimens  of  Hebrew  poetry  are, 
as  a  rule,  those  in  which  the  paralleHsm  is  most  complete  (synony- 
mous distichs  and  tetrastichs),  varied  by  an  occasional  tristich 
{e.g.  Job  28.  29-31.  38-39.  Ps.  18.  29.  104.  Pr.  8,  12  ff. ;  and  in 
a  quieter  strain,  Ps.  51.  81.  91.  103  &c.).  .  .  . 

The  prophets,  though  their  diction  is  usually  an  elevated  prose, 
manifest  a  strong  tendency  to  enforce  and  emphasize  their  thought 
by  casting  it,  more  or  less  completely,  into  the  form  of  parallel 
clauses  {e.g.  Is.  i,  2.  3.  10.  18.  19.  20.  27.  29  &c.  ;  13,  10.  11.  12. 
13  &c.  ;  Am.  6,  i.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7  &c.).  And  sometimes  they 
adopt  a  distinctly  lyrical  strain,  as  Is.  42,  10-12.  44,  23.  45,  8. 
But  with  the  prophets  the  lines  are  very  commonly  longer  than  is 
the  case  in  poetry  (in  the  technical  sense  of  the  word)  ;  and  the 
movement  is  less  bright  and  rapid  than  that  of  the  true  lyrical 
style. 


STEDMAN.  lix 


6.   Biblical  Style  and  Language  Contrasted  with  those  of 
Western  Nations. 

[Addison,  Spectator,  No.  405.] 

There  is  a  certain  coldness  and  indifference  in  the  phrases  of 
our  European  languages  when  they  are  compared  with  the  Oriental 
forms  of  speech  ;  and  it  happens  very  luckily  that  the  Hebrew 
idioms  run  into  the  English  tongue  with  a  particular  grace  and 
beauty.  Our  language  has  received  innumerable  elegancies  and 
improvements  from  that  infusion  of  Hebraisms  which  are  derived 
to  it  out  of  the  poetical  passages  in  Holy  Writ.  They  give  a 
force  and  energy  to  our  expressions,  warm  and  animate  our  lan- 
guage, and  convey  our  thoughts  in  more  ardent  and  intense 
phrases  than  any  that  are  to  be  met  with  in  our  own  tongue. 
There  is  something  so  pathetic  in  this  kind  of  diction  that  it  often 
sets  the  mind  in  a  flame,  and  makes  our  hearts  burn  within  us.  .  .  . 
If  any  one  would  judge  of  the  beauties  of  poetry  that  are  to  be 
met  with  in  the  Divine  writings,  and  examine  how  kindly  the  He- 
brew manners  of  speech  mix  and  incorporate  with  the  I^nglish 
language,  after  having  perused  the  Book  of  Psalms  let  him  read  a 
literal  translation  of  Horace  or  Pindar.  He  will  find  in  these  two 
last  such  an  absurdity  and  confusion  of  style,  with  such  a  compara- 
tive poverty  of  imagination,  as  will  make  him  very  sensible  of  what 
I  have  been  here  advancing. 

[Stedman,  The  Nature  and  Elements  of  Poetr)\  in  the    Century 
Magazine  for  May,  1892.] 

The  naivet<§  of  the  Davidic  lyre  is  beyond  question,  and  so  is  the 
superb  unrestraint  of  the  Hebrew  prophecy  and  pceans.  We  feel 
the  stress  of  human  nature  in  its  articulate  moods.  This  gives  to 
the  poetry  of  the  Scriptures  an  attribute  possessed  only  by  the 
most  creative  and  impersonal  literature  of  other  tongues  —  that  of 
universality.  Again,  it  was  all  designed  for  music,  by  the  poets  of 
a  musical  race,  and  the  psalms  were  arranged  by  the  first  com- 


Ix  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

posers  —  the  leaders  of  the  royal  choir.  It  retains  forever  the 
fresh  tone  of  an  epoch  when  lyrical  composition  was  the  normal 
form  of  expression.  Then  its  rhythm  is  free,  unrestrained,  in  ex- 
treme opposition  to  that  of  classical  and  modern  verse,  relying 
merely  upon  antiphony,  alliteration,  and  parallelism.  Technical 
abandon,  allied  with  directness  of  conception  and  faithful  revela- 
tion of  human  life,  makes  for  universality  —  makes  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures  a  Bible,  a  world's  book  that  can  be  translated  into  all 
tongues  with  surpassing  effect,  notably  into  a  language  almost  as 
direct  and  elemental  as  its  own,  that  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  in  its 
Jacobean  strength  and  clarity.  .  .  . 

It  has  been  said  of  the  Hebrew  language  that  every  word  is 
a  poem ;  and  there  are  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  neither 
lyrical  nor  prophetic,  so  exquisite  in  kind  that  I  call  them  models 
of  impersonal  art.  Considered  thus,  the  purely  narrative  idyls  of 
Esther  and  Ruth  have  so  much  significance  that  I  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  recur  to  them  with  reference  to  poetic  beauty  and  con- 
struction. 

[Chateaubriand,  Genius  of  Christianity,  Part  II.,  Bk.  5,  Chaps. 

3  and  4.] 

So  much  has  been  written  on  the  Bible,  it  has  been  so  repeat- 
edly commented  upon,  that  perhaps  the  only  method  now  left  to 
make  its  beauties  felt  is  to  compare  it  with  the  works  of  Homer. 
Consecrated  by  ages,  these  poems  have  received  from  time  a  spe- 
cies of  sanctity  which  justifies  the  parallel  and  obviates  every  idea 
of  profanation.  If  Jacob  and  Nestor  are  not  of  the  same  family, 
both  at  least  belong  to  the  early  ages  of  the  world,  and  you  feel 
that  it  is  but  a  step  from  the  palace  of  Pylos  to  the  tents  of 
Ishmael. 

In  what  respect  the  Bible  is  more  beautiful  than  Homer,  what 
resemblances  and  what  differences  exist  between  it  and  the  pro- 
ductions of  that  poet  —  such  are  the  subjects  which  we  purpose  to 
examine  in  these  chapters.  I^t  us  consider  these  two  monu- 
ments, which  stand  like  solitary  columns  at  the  entrance  to  the 
temple  of  Genius,  and  form  its  simple  peristyle. 


CHA  TEA  UBRIAND.  Ixi 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  curious  spectacle  to  behold  the  rivalry 
of  the  two  most  ancient  languages  of  the  world,  the  languages  in 
which  Moses  and  Lycurgus  published  their  laws,  and  David  and 
Pindar  chanted  their  hymns.  The  Hebrew,  concise,  energetic, 
with  scarcely  any  inflection  in  its  verbs,  expressing  twenty  shades 
of  a  thought  by  the  mere  apposition  of  a  letter,  proclaims  the 
idiom  of  a  people  who,  by  a  lemarkable  combination,  unite  primi- 
tive simplicity  with  a  profound  knowledge  of  mankind.  The 
(ireek  .  .  .  displays  in  its  intricate  conjugations,  in  its  inflections, 
in  its  diffuse  eloquence,  a  nation  of  an  imitative  and  social  genius, 
a  nation  elegant  and  vain,  fond  of  melody  and  prodigal  of  words.  .  .  . 

Our  terms  of  comparison  will  l)e :  Simplicity ;  .Xnticjuity  of 
Manners;  Narrative;  Description;  Similes  or  Images;  the  Sub- 
lime.    Let  us  examine  the  first  of  these  terms. 

I.  Simf>/iiity\ 

The  simplicity  of  the  Bible  is  more  concise  and  more  solemn, 
the  simplicity  of  Homer  more  diffuse  and  more  lively.  The  former 
is  sententious,  and  comes  back  to  the  same  locutions  to  express 
new  ideas ;  the  latter  is  fond  of  expatiating,  and  often  repeats 
in  the  same  phrases  what  has  been  said  before.  The  simplicity 
of  Scripture  is  that  of  an  ancient  priest,  who,  imbued  with  all  the 
sciences,  human  and  divine,  pronounces  from  the  recess  of  the 
sanctuary  the  precise  oracles  of  wisdom  ;  the  simj)licity  of  the  poet 
of  Chios  is  that  of  an  aged  traveler,  who,  beside  the  hearth  of  his 
host,  relates  what  he  has  learned  in  the  course  of  a  long  and 
checkered  life.   .  .   . 

3.  Narrative. 

The  -narrative  of  Homer  is  interrupted  by  digressions,  harangues, 
descriptions  of  vessels,  garments,  arms,  and  scei)tres,  by  genealo- 
gies of  men  and  things.  Proper  names  are  always  surcharged 
with  epithets  ;  a  hero  seldom  fails  to  be  liirine,  like  the  immortals, 
or  honored  b\  the  nations  as  a  ^i^od.  A  princess  is  sure  to  have 
white  arms,  her  shape  always  resembles  the  trunk  of  the  palm-tree 
0/  Delos,  and  she  owes  her  locks  to  the  youngest  0/  the  Graces. 


Ixii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

The  narrative  of  the  Bible  is  rapid,  without  digression,  without 
circumlocution ;  it  is  broken  into  short  sentences,  and  the  per- 
sons are  named  without  flattery.  Proper  names  are  incessantly 
recurring,  and  the  pronoun  is  scarcely  ever  used  instead  of  them, 
a  circumstance  which,  added  to  the  frequent  repetition  of  the 
conjunction  and,  indicates  by  this  simplicity  a  society  much  nearer 
the  state  of  nature  than  that  sung  by  Homer.  The  forms  of  self- 
love  are  already  evoked  in  the  characters  of  the  Odyssey,  whereas 
they  are  dormant  in  those  of  Genesis. 

4.  Description. 

The  descriptions  of  Homer  are  prolix,  whether  they  be  of  a 
pathetic  or  a  terrible  character,  melancholy  or  cheerful,  energetic 
or  sublime.  The  Bible,  in  all  its  different  species  of  description, 
gives  in  general  but  one  single  trait,  but  this  trait  is  striking,  and 
distinctly  exhibits  the  object  to  our  view. 

5.  Similes. 

The  Homeric  similes  are  lengthened  out  by  accidental  circum- 
stances ;  they  are  little  pictures  hung  round  an  edifice  to  refresh 
the  eye  which  has  been  fatigued  with  the  height  of  the  domes,  by 
calling  it  back  to  rest  on  scenes  of  nature  and  rural  manners. 
The  comparisons  of  the  Bible  are  almost  all  given  in  but  few 
words  :  you  have  a  lion,  a  stream,  a  storm,  a  fire,  roaring,  falling, 
ravaging,  devouring.  It  is,  however,  no  stranger  to  circumstan- 
tial similes,  but  then  it  adopts  an  Oriental  turn  and  personifies  the 
object,  as  pride  in  the  cedar,  etc. 

6.   The  Sublime. 

Finally,  the  sublime  in  Homer  commonly  arises  from  the  gen- 
eral combination  of  the  parts,  and  arrives  by  degrees  at  its  acme. 
In  the  Bible  it  is  almost  always  unexpected ;  it  bursts  upon  you 
like  lightning,  and  you  are  left  smoking  and  riven  by  the  thunder- 
bolt before  you  know  how  you  were  struck  by  it.  In  Homer, 
again,  the  sublime  consists  in  the  magnificence  of  the  words  har- 
monizing with  the  majesty  of  the  thought.     In  the  Bible,  on  the 


CHA  TEA  UBRIAND.  Ixiii 

contrary,  the  highest  degree  of  sublimity  often  proceeds  from  a 
contrast  between  the  grandeur  of  the  idea  and  the  Httleness,  at 
times  even  the  triviality,  of  the  word  that  expresses  it.  From  this 
results  a  shock,  a  violent  wrench  to  the  mind  ;  for  when,  raised 
by  contemplation,  the  soul  darts  towards  the  highest  regions,  sud- 
denly the  expression,  instead  of  buoying  it  up,  lets  it  fall  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  hurls  it  from  the  bosom  of  God  to  the  mire 
of  this  nether  world.  This  species  of  sublime,  the  most  impetu- 
ous of  all,  is  admirably  adapted  to  an  immense  and  awful  being, 
allied  at  once  to  the  greatest  and  the  smallest  objects.  .  .  . 

We  shall  conclude  this  parallel,  and  the  whole  subject  of  Chris- 
tian poetics,  with  an  essay  which  will  show  at  once  the  difference 
between  the  style  of  the  Bible  and  that  of  Homer ;  we  shall  take 
a  passage  from  the  former  and  paint  it  with  colors  borrowed  from 
the  latter.     Ruth  thus  addresses  Naomi : 

"  Intreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  return  from  following  after 
thee  ;  for  whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go ;  and  where  thou  lodgest 
I  will  lodge  ;  thy  people  shall  be  my  i)eople,  and  thy  God  my 
God  ;  where  thou  diest  will  I  die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried." 

Let  us  try  to  render  this  verse  into  the  language  of  Homer : 

"  The  fair  Ruth  thus  responds  to  the  wise  Naomi,  honored  by 
the  people  as  a  goddess  :  *  Cease  to  oppose  the  determination  with 
which  a  divinity  inspires  me  ;  I  will  tell  thee  the  tnith,  just  as  it  is, 
and  without  disguise.  I  am  resolved  to  follow  thee.  I  will  remain 
with  thee,  whether  thou  shalt  continue  to  reside  among  the  Moab- 
ites,  so  dexterous  in  throwing  the  javelin,  or  shalt  return  to  Judea, 
so  fertile  in  olives.  With  thee  I  will  demand  hospitality  of  the 
nations  who  respect  the  suppliant.  Our  ashes  shall  be  mingled 
in  the  same  urn,  and  I  will  offer  agreeable  sacrifices  to  the  Go<i 
who  incessantly  accompanies  thee.'  She  said  ;  and  as  when  the 
vehement  West  Wind  brings  a  warm,  refreshing  rain,  the  husband- 
men prepare  the  wheat  and  the  barley,  and  make  baskets  of  nishes 
nicely  interwoven,  for  they  foresee  that  the  falling  shower  will  soften 
the  soil  and  render  it  fit  for  receiving  the  precious  gifts  of  Ceres  ; 
so  the  words  of  Ruth,  like  a  fertilizing  rain,  melted  the  heart  of 
Naomi." 


Ixiv  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

Such,  perhaps,  as  closely  as  our  feeble  talents  allow  us  to  imi- 
tate Homer,  is  a  shadow  of  the  style  of  that  immortal  genius. 
But  has  not  the  verse  of  Ruth,  thus  amplified,  lost  the  original 
charm  which  it  possesses  in  the  Scriptures?  What  poetry  can 
ever  be  equivalent  to  this  single  stroke  of  eloquence,  '  Thy  people 
shall  be  my  people,  and  thy  God  my  God  '  ? 

[Renan,  Histoire   Generale  des  Langues  Setnitiques,  second  edi- 
tion, pp.  18-24.] 

The  unity  and  simplicity  which  distinguish  the  Semitic  race  are 
likewise  found  in  the  Semitic  languages.  Abstraction  is  unknown 
to  them ;  metaphysics,  impossible.  Language  being  the  neces- 
sary mold  of  a  people's  intellectual  operations,  an  idiom  almost 
destitute  of  syntax,  without  variety  of  construction,  lacking  the 
conjunctions  which  establish  such  delicate  relations  among  the 
members  of  thought,  portraying  every  object  by  its  external  quali- 
ties, ought  to  be  eminently  suitable  to  the  eloquent  inspirations  of 
seers  and  the  delineation  of  fugitive  impressions,  but  should  deny 
itself  to  all  philosophy,  to  all  purely  intellectual  speculations.  To 
imagine  an  Aristotle  or  a  Kant  with  such  an  organ  of  expression 
is  as  impossible  as  to  conceive  an  Iliad  or  a  poem  like  that  of  Job 
written  in  our  metaphysical  and  complicated  languages.  Add  to 
this  that  the  Semitic  languages,  especially  the  older  ones,  are  in- 
exact, and  correspond  but  approximately  with  the  things  them- 
selves. Their  formulas  have  not  the  precision  which  with  us 
leaves  no  room  for  ambiguity.  When  we  seek  Jto  translate  into 
our  European  tongues,  where  each  word  has  only  a  single  meaning, 
the  oldest  monuments  of  Hebrew  poetry,  we  experience  the  neces- 
sity of  putting  questions  to  ourselves,  and  of  making  a  multitude 
of  distinctions  which  never  occurred  to  the  author,  but  to  which 
the  mechanism  of  our  idioms  obliges  us  to  attend. 

This  physical  and  sensuous  character  seems  to  us  the  dominant 
trait  of  the  family  of  languages  which  forms  the  object  of  our 
study.  Their  roots  are  almost  all  derived  from  the  imitation  d 
nature,  and  allow  us  to  j)erceive,  as  through  transparent  crystal,  the 


RENAN.  Ixr 

impressions  which,  reflected  by  the  consciousness  of  primitive  man, 
resulted  in  language.  Derivative  words  are  formed  according  to 
simple  and  uniform  laws.  The  verb  has  a  still  evident  character 
of  priority.  .  ,  .  The  noun  has  but  few  inflections.  .  .  ,  Certain 
parasitical  monosyllables,  which  agglutinate  at  the  beginning  of 
words,  take  the  place  of  terminal  inflections.  .  .  .  Indeed,  the 
whole  construction  of  the  sentence  displays  such  a  character  of 
simplicity,  especially  in  narrative,  that  we  can  only  think  of  the 
artless  stories  of  a  child.  Instead  of  the  skilful  involutions  of 
phrase  {circuitus,  comprehensio,  as  Cicero  calls  them)  within 
whose  compass  Greek  and  Latin  unite  with  so  much  art  the 
various  members  of  a  single  thought,  the  Semites  can  only 
attach  one  proposition  to  the  end  of  another,  using  as  their 
sole  contrivance  the  simple  copula  and,  which  serves  them  in 
lieu  of  almost  every  other  conjunction. 

Ewald  has  rightly  observed  that  the  language  of  the  Semites 
is  rather  poetic  and  lyrical  than  oratorical  or  epic.  It  is  tnie  that 
the  art  of  oratory,  in  the  classical  sense,  has  always  been  foreign  to 
them.  Semitic  grammar  is  almost  ignorant  of  the  art  of  sub- 
ordinating the  clauses  of  the  sentence  ;  it  taxes  the  race  which 
created  it  with  a  patent  inferiority  of  the  reasoning  faculties,  but 
allows  it  a  very  lively  sense  of  reality  and  much  delicacy  of  sensa- 
tion. Perspective  is  wholly  wanting  to  the  Semitic  style  ;  in  vain 
should  we  seek  in  it  those  sallies,  those  retreats,  those  half-lights, 
which  give  the  Aryan  languages  a  second  power  of  expression,  as 
it  were.  Plain  and  destitute  of  inversions,  the  Semitic  languages 
are  acquainted  with  no  process  save  the  juxtaposition  of  ideas, 
after  the  manner  of  Byzantine  painting  or  the  bas-reliefs  of 
Nineveh.  We  must  even  admit  that  the  idea  of  style,  as  we 
understand  the  word,  is  entirely  wanting  to  the  Semites.  Their 
periods  are  very  short ;  the  extent  of  discourse  which  they  can 
embrace  at  once  does  not  exceed  one  or  two  lines.  Solely  con- 
cerned with  the  thoiight  of  the  moment,  they  do  not  prepare  in 
advance  the  mechanism  of  the  sentence,  and  never  consider  what 
precedes  or  what  is  to  come.  Hence  result  strange  inadvertences, 
into  which  they  are  led  by  their  inability  to  follow  to  the  end  a 


Ixvi  ILL  US  TEA  Tl  I  'E    COMMEXTS. 

single  idea,  and  by  their  practice  of  never  returning  to  correct 
what  has  once  been  written.  It  is  like  the  most  careless  conver- 
sation, caught  in  the  act  and  immediately  fixed  by  writing. 

In  the  structure  of  the  sentence,  as  in  their  whole  mental  con- 
stitution, there  is  with  the  Semites  one  intricacy  less  than  with  the 
Aryans.  They  are  destitute  of  one  of  the  degrees  of  combination 
which  we  esteem  necessary  for  the  complete  expression  of  thought. 
The  uniting  of  words  into  a  proposition  is  their  supreme  effort ; 
it  never  occurs  to  them  to  repeat  the  process  on  the  proposi- 
tions themselves.  This  is,  according  to  the  expression  of  Aristotle,* 
the  '  indefinite  style,'  advancing  by  accumulated  atoms,  as  opposed 
to  the  finished  rotundity  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  period.  Every- 
thing which  may  be  included  under  the  c'  nomination  of  oratorical 
harmony  remained  unknown  to  them.  Eloquence  is  for  them 
only  a  lively  succession  of  earnest  observations  and  bold  images  ; 
in  rhetoric  no  less  than  in  architecture  their  favorite  device  is 
the  arabesque. 

The  importance  of  the  verse  in  Semitic  style  is  the  best  proof  of 
the  total  lack  of  internal  construction  which  characterizes  their 
diction.  The  verse  has  nothing  in  common  with  the  Greek  and 
Latin  period,  since  it  does  not  present  a  succession  of  members 
dependent  upon  one  another ;  it  is  an  almost  arbitrary  division  in 
a  series  of  propositions  separated  by  commas.  Its  length  is  not 
determined  by  anything  essential ;  the  verse  corresponds  to  the 
pauses  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  respiration,  whether  or  not 
such  pauses  are  required  by  the  sense.  The  author  stops,  not 
from  the  feeling  that  he  has  arrived  at  a  natural  halting-place  in 
his  discourse,  but  simply  because  he  cannot  help  himself.  Let 
any  one  attempt  to  divide  up  in  this  way  a  speech  of  Demosthenes 
or  Cicero,  and  he  will  realize  how  fully  the  verse  belongs  to  the 
very  essence  of  the  Semitic  languages.  It  is  only  at  a  compara- 
tively recent  period  that  they  gave  up  this  feature,  an  insufficient 
provision  against  the  wearisome  monotony  to  which  they  were 
condemned  by  their  too  simple  idea  of  discourse. 

We  may  say  that  the  Aryan  tongues,  compared  with  the  Semitic, 

*  See  p.  IxviiL 


REAAN.  Ixvii 

are  the  languages  of  abstraction  and  metaphysics,  compared  with 
those  of  realism  and  sensuousness.  With  their  marvelous  flexibil- 
ity, their  variety  of  inflections,  their  delicate  particles,  their  com- 
pound words,  and  especially  because  of  the  admirable  secret  of 
inversion,  which  allows  the  natural  order  of  ideas  to  be  changed 
without  injury  to  the  determination  of  grammatical  relations,  the 
Aryan  languages  lead  us  directly  into  complete  idealism,  and  in- 
duce us  to  regard  the  creation  of  language  as  d  fact  essentially 
transcendental. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  considered  only  the  Semitic  languages, 
we  might  be  tempted  to  believe  that  sensation  alone  presided  at 
the  first  movements  of  human  thought,  and  that  language  was  in 
the  beginning  only  a  kind  of  reflex  of  the  external  world.  In 
running  over  the  list  of  Semitic  roots,  we  scarcely  encounter  a 
single  one  which  does  not  offer  a  primary  material  sense,  ap- 
plied, by  transitions  more  or  less  direct,  to  intellectual  objects. 
Is  it  a  feeling  of  the  soul  which  is  to  be  expressed,  recourse  is  had 
to  the  organic  movement  which  is  usually  its  sign.  Thus  anger  is 
expressed  in  Hebrew  in  a  multitude  of  ways,  all  alike  picturesque, 
and  all  derived  from  physiological  circumstances.  Now  the  meta- 
phor is  taken  from  the  rapid  and  animated  breathing  which  accom- 
panies passion  ' ;  now  from  heat,  or  from  ebullition  ;  now  from  the 
action  of  breaking  with  a  crash  ;  now  from  shuddering.  Dejection 
and  despair  are  expressed  in  this  language  by  internal  liquefac- 
tion, the  dissolution  of  the  heart ;  fear,  by  the  loosing  of  the  reins. 
Pride  is  depicted  by  the  elevation  of  the  head,  a  tall  and  erect  stat- 
ure. Patience  is  a  long  breathing,  impatience  a  short.  Desire  is 
thirst  or  paleness.  Pardon  is  expressed  by  a  host  of  metaphors 
borrowed  from  the  idea  of  covering,  concealing,  passing  over  a 
sin  a  coating  which  blots  it  out.  In  the  Book  of  Job,  Ciod  sews 
up  sins  in  a  bag,  affixes  his  seal,  then  casts  it  behind  his  back, 
and  all  this  to  signify  forgetting.  To  shake  the  head,  look  upon 
one  another,  let  fall  one's  arms,  are  expressions  which  Hebrew 
much  prefers  to  all  our  psychological  terms  for  the  rendering  of 
disdain,  indecision,  and  despondency.  We  may  even  say  that 
1  The  Hebrew  roots,  adduced  by  the  author,  are  here  omitted.  —  Eu, 


Ixviii  ILLUSTRATIVE   COMMENTS. 

such  psychological  terms  are  almost  totally  wanting  in  Hebrew,  or 
at  least  that  there  is  always  added  the  portrayal  of  the  auendant 
physical  circumstance  :  *  He  grew  angry,  and  his  countenance  was 
inflamed  .  .  . ;  he  opened  his  mouth,  and  said,'  etc. 

Other  notions  more  or  less  abstract  have  received  their  symbol, 
in  the  Semitic  languages,  in  a  like  manner.  The  idea  of  the  true 
is  drawn  from  solidity,  stability ;  that  of  the  beatitiful,  from  radi- 
ance ;  that  of  good,  from  rectitude  ;  that  of  evil,  from  deviation, 
from  the  curve,  or  else  from  stench.  To  make  or  create  was 
originally  to  carve  out ;  to  decide  anything  is  to  cut  across ;  to 
think  is  to  speak.  *  Bone  '  signifies  the  substance,  the  inmost  of  a 
thing,  and  serves  in  Hebrew  as  the  equivalent  of  the  pronoun 
'  self.'  I  am  not  ignorant  that  similar  facts  occur  in  all  lan- 
guages, and  that  Aryan  idioms  would  furnish  almost  as  many  ex- 
amples where  pure  thought  is,  in  the  same  way,  involved  in  a 
concrete  and  sensible  form.  But  what  distinguishes  the  Semitic 
family  is  that  the  original  fusion  of  sensation  and  idea  has  always 
been  maintained,  that  neither  of  the  two  has  thrown  the  other  into 
the  shade,  as  has  come  to  pass  in  the  Aryan  languages ;  in  short, 
that  idealization  has  never  taken  place  with  any  thoroughness, 
so  that  in  every  word  we  imagine  we  hear  the  echo  of  the  primi- 
tive sensations  which  determined  the  choice  of  those  who  first 
bestowed  the  names. 


[Aristotle,  Rhetoric,  Bk.  3,  Chap*  9,  Welldon's  translation.] 

By  a  jointed  style  I  mean  one  which  has  no  end  in  itself  ex- 
cept the  completion  of  the  subject  under  discussion.  It  is  dis- 
agreeable from  its  endlessness  or  indefiniteness,  as  everybody  likes 
to  have  the  end  clearly  in  view.  This  is  the  reason  why  people 
in  a  race  do  not  gasp  and  faint  until  they  reach  the  goal ;  for 
while  they  have  the  finishing-point  before  their  eyes,  they  are 
insensible  of  fatigue.  The  compact  style,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  the  periodic  ;  and  I  mean  by  a  period  a  sentence  having  a 
beginning  and  an  end  in  itself,  and  a  magnitude  which  admits 
of  being  easily  comprehended  at  a  glance.     Such  a  style  is  agree- 


RENAI\r.  Ixix 

able  and  can  be  easily  learnt.  It  is  agreeable,  as  being  the  oppo- 
site of  the  indefinite  style,  and  because  the  hearer  is  constantly 
imagining  himself  to  have  got  hold  of  something,  from  constantly 
finding  a  definite  conclusion  of  the  sentence,  whereas  in  the  other 
style  there  is  something  disagreeable  in  having  nothing  to  look 
forward  to  or  accomplish.  It  is  easily  learnt  too,  as  being  easily 
recollected,  and  this  because  a  periodic  style  can  be  numbered, 
and  number  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  recollect.  It  is 
thus  that  everybody  recollects  verses  better  than  irregular  or  prose 
compositions,  as  they  contain  number  and  are  measured  by  it. 
But  the  period  should  be  completed  by  the  sense  as  well  as  by  the 
rhythm,  and  not  be  abruptly  broken  off. 

[Renan,  Histoire  Generale  des  Langues  Semitiques, 
pp.  411-413.  418.] 

One  of  the  laws  most  generally  observed  in  the  different  fami- 
lies of  languages,  especially  the  Aryan,  is  that  which  refers  synthe- 
sis and  complexity  to  the  beginning.  Far  from  representing  the 
present  state  as  the  development  of  a  primitive  germ  less  complete 
and  simple  than  the  state  which  has  succeeded,  the  most  profound 
linguists  are  unanimous  in  placing  at  the  infancy  of  the  human 
spirit  the  languages  which  are  synthetic,  obscure,  and  complicated, 
—  so  complicated,  indeed,  that  it  is  the  want  of  an  easier  lan- 
guage which  has  led  later  generations  to  abandon  the  learned 
tongue  of  their  ancestors.  It  would  be  possible,  by  taking  one 
after  another  the  languages  of  almost  all  the  countries  where  man- 
kind has  had  a  history,  to  verify  this  regular  progress  from  syn-. 
thesis  to  analysis.  Everywhere  an  ancient  language  has  made 
way  for  a  popular  speech,  which  does  not  constitute,  it  is  true,  a 
new  idiom,  but  is  rather  a  transformation  of  that  which  preceded 
it.  The  latter  was  more  learned,  laden  with  inflections  to  express 
the  infinitely  delicate  relations  of  thought,  even  richer  in  the  order 
of  its  ideas,  though  this  order  was  comparatively  restricted,  —  an 
image,  in  a  word,  of  primitive  spontaneity,  in  which  the  mind 
gathered  elements  into  a  confused  unity,  and  lost  in  the  whole  the 


Ixx  ILLUSTRATIVE   COMMENTS. 

analytic  view  of  the  parts.  The  modem  dialect,  on  the  other  hand, 
corresponds  to  a  progress  of  analysis,  is  clearer  and  more  explicit, 
separating  what  the  ancients  jumbled  together,  shattering  the  mech- 
anism of  the  ancient  language  in  order  to  bestow  on  each  idea 
and  relation  its  own  isolated  expression.  .  .  .  The  axiom  which 
we  have  just  enounced  is  subject  to  weighty  exceptions,  recog- 
nized by  the  very  persons  who  formulated  it.  Friedrich  Schlegel 
dares  not  apply  it  to  certain  languages  which  have  remained  in  an 
inferior  stage  of  culture ;  Abel-R^musat  and  Wilhelm  von  Hum- 
boldt have  excepted  the  Chinese  language.  We  believe  that  in 
many  respects  the  Semitic  languages  must  share  in  the  same  ex- 
ception. Indeed,  so  far  from  complexity  being  their  primitive 
state,  the  further  we  go  back  toward  their  origins  the  more  sim- 
ple they  appear ;  on  the  contrary,  the  further  we  depart  from  their 
cradle  the  fuller  and  richer  they  are.  .  .  . 

The  Semitic  languages,  considered  as  a  whole,  are  languages 
essentially  analytical.  In  place  of  rendering  in  its  unity  the  com- 
plex element  of  discourse,  they  prefer  to  dissect  it,  and  express  it 
term  -by  term.  They  are  ignorant  of  the  art  of  establishing  among 
the  members  of  a  sentence  that  reciprocity  which  makes  the  period 
a  body  whose  parts  are  connected  in  such  a  way  that  the  under- 
standing of  the  one  is  impossible  except  through  the  collective 
view  of  the  whole.  They  have  not  had  to  shake  off  the  yoke  that 
the  comprehensive  thought  of  the  fathers  of  the  Aryan  race  im- 
posed on  the  spirit  of  their  descendants.  The  wonderful  clearness 
with  which  the  Semitic  race  perceived  at  once  the  distinction  of 
the  ego,  the  world,  and  God,  excluded  this  vast  and  simultaneous 
intuition  of  relations.  The  Hebrew  sentence  is  a  masterpiece  of 
logical  analysis,  and  we  are  surprised  to  find  there  at  every  step 
the  explicit  turns,  the  Gallicisms,  if  I  may  venture  to  say  so,  which 
seem  the  heritage  of  the  most  positive  and  reflective  tongues. 


BIBLICAL    SELECTIONS. 


oj«<o^ 


Exodus  15. 

MOSES'  SONG    OF  DELIVERANCE. 

THEN  sang  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  this  song  unto 
the  Lord,  and  spake,  saying,  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  he 
hath  triumphed  gloriously  ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown 
into  the  sea. 

2  The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  he  is  become  my 
salvation  ;  he  is  my  (jod,  and  I  will  prepare  him  an  habitation ; 
my  father's  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him. 

3  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war ;  the  Lord  is  his  name. 

4  Pharaoh's  chariots  and  his  host  hath  he  cast  into  the  sea ; 
his  chosen  captains  also  are  drowned  in  the  Red  sea. 

5  The  depths  have  covered  them ;  they  sank  into  the  bottom 
as  a  stone. 

6  Thy  right  hand,  O  Lord,  is  become  glorious  in  power ;  thy 
right  hand,  O  Lord,  hath  dashed  in  pieces  the  enemy. 

7  And  in  the  greatness  of  thine  excellency  thou  hast  over- 
thrown them  that  rose  up  against  thee  ;  thou  sentest  forth  thy 
wrath,  which  consumed  them  as  stubble. 

8  .And  with  the  blast  of  thy  nostrils  the  waters  were  gathered 
together,  the  floods  stood  upright  as  an  heap,  and  the  depths  were 
congealed  in  the  heart  of  the  sea. 

9  The  enemy  said,  I  will  pursue,  I  will  overtake,  I  will  divide 
the  spoil ;  my  lust  shall  be  satisfied  upon  them  ;  I  will  draw  my 
sword,  my  hand  shall  destroy  them. 


2  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

10  Thou  didst  blow  with  thy  wind,  the  sea  covered  them  ;  they 
sank  as  lead  in  the  mighty  waters. 

11  Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  gods?  who  is 
Hke  thee,  glorious  in  holiness,  fearful  in  praises,  doing  wonders  ? 

12  Thou  stretchedst  out  thy  right  hand,  the  earth  swallowed 
them. 

13  Thou  in  thy  mercy  hast  led  forth  the  people  which  thou 
hast  redeemed  ;  thou  hast  guided  them  in  thy  strength  unto  thy 
holy  habitation. 

14  The  people  shall  hear,  and  be  afraid  ;  sorrow  shall  take 
hold  on  the  inhabitants  of  Palestina. 

15  Then  the  dukes  of  Edom  shall  be  amazed ;  the  mighty  men 
of  Moab,  trembling  shall  take  hold  upon  them  ;  ail  the  inhabitants 
of  Canaan  shall  melt  away. 

16  Fear  and  dread  shall  fall  upon  them;  by  the  greatness  of 
thine  arm  they  shall  be  as  still  as  a  stone ;  till  thy  people  pass 
over,  O  Lord,  till  the  people  pass  over  which  thou  hast  pur- 
chased. 

1 7  Thou  shalt  bring  them  in,  and  plant  them  in  the  mountain 
of  thine  inheritance,  in  the  place,  O  Lord,  which  thou  hast  made 
for  thee  to  dwell  in,  in  the  sanctuary,  O  Lord,  which  thy  hands 
have  established. 

18  The  Lord  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever. 

19  For  the  horse  of  Pharaoh  went  in  with  his  chariots  and  with 
his  horsemen  into  the  sea,  and  the  Lord  brought  again  the  waters 
of  the  sea  upon  them  ;  but  the  children  of  Israel  went  on  dry 
land  in  the  midst  of  the  sea. 

20  And  Miriam  the  prophetess,  the  sister  of  Aaron,  took  a 
timbrel  in  her  hand  ;  and  all  the  women  went  out  after  her  with 
timbrels  and  with  dances. 

2 1  And  Miriam  answered  them.  Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he 
hath  triumphed  gloriously  ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown 
into  the  sea. 

22  So  Moses  brought  Israel  from  the  Red  sea,  and  they  went 
out  into  the  wilderness  of  Shur ;  and  they  went  three  days  in  the 
wilderness,  and  found  no  water. 


EXODUS  20.  3 

23  And  when  they  came  to  Marah,  they  could  not  drink  of 
the  waters  of  Marah,  for  they  were  bitter ;  therefore  the  name 
of  it  was  called  Marah. 

24  And  the  people  murmured  against  Moses,  saying,  What  shall 
we  drink  ? 

25  And  he  cried  unto  the  Lord;  and  the  Lxjrd  showed  him  a 
tree,  which  when  he  had  cast  into  the  waters,  the  waters  were 
made  sweet.  There  he  made  for  them  a  statute  and  an  ordinance, 
and  there  he  proved  them, 

26  And  said,  If  thou  wilt  diligently  hearken  to  the  voice  of  the 
Lord  thy  God,  and  wilt  do  that  which  is  right  in  his  sight,  and 
wilt  give  ear  to  his  commandments,  and  keep  all  his  statutes,  I 
will  put  none  of  these  diseases  upon  thee,  which  I  have  brought 
upon  the  Egyptians  ;  for  I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee. 

27  And  they  came  to  Elim,  where  were  twelve  wells  of  water, 
and  threescore  and  ten  palm  trees ;  and  they  encamped  there  by 
the  waters. 


Exodus  20. 

THE  LAW  GIVEN   TO    THE    CHILDREN  OF  ISRAEL. 

AND  God  spake  all  these  words,  saying, 
2   I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  have  brought  thee  out 
of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage. 

3  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me. 

4  Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  hke- 
ness  of  any  thing  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth 
beneath,  or  that  is  in  the  water  under  the  earth  ; 

5  Thou  shalt  not  bow  down  thyself  to  them,  nor  serve  them  ; 
for  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of 
the  fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation 
of  them  that  hate  me, 

6  And  showing  mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me 
and  keep  my  commandments. 


4  BIBLICAL    SELECTIONS. 

7  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain  ; 
for  the  Lord  will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  in 
vain. 

8  Remember  the  sabbath  day,  to  keep  it  holy. 

9  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  and  do  all  thy  work  ; 

10  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  sabbath  of  the  Lord  thy  God  ;  in 
it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter, 
thy  manservant,  nor  thy  maidservant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  thy 
stranger  that  is  within  thy  gates ; 

1 1  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea, 
and  all  that  in  them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day  :  wherefore  the 
Lord  blessed  the  sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it. 

12  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days  may  be 
long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

13  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

14  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

15  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

16  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor. 

1 7  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  manservant,  nor  his  maidser- 
vant, nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  any  thing  that  is  thy  neighbor's. 

18  And  all  the  people  saw  the  thunderings,  and  the  lightnings, 
and  the  noise  of  the  trumpet,  and  the  mountain  smoking ;  and 
when  the  people  saw  it,  they  removed,  and  stood  afar  off. 

19  And  they  said  unto  Moses,  Speak  thou  with  us,  and  we  will 
hear ;  but  let  not  God  speak  with  us,  lest  we  die. 

20  And  Moses  said  unto  the  people.  Fear  not ;  for  God  is  come 
to  prove  you,  and  that  his  fear  may  be  before  your  faces,  that  ye 
sin  not. 

21  And  the  people  stood  afar  off,  and  Moses  drew  near  unto 
the  thick  darkness  where  God  was. 

22  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Thus  thou  shalt  say  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  Ye  have  seen  that  I  have  talked  with  you 
from  heaven. 

23  Ye  shall  not  make  with  me  gods  of  silver,  neither  shall  ye 
make  unto  you  gods  of  gold. 


DEUTERONOMY  32.  5 

24  An  altar  of  earth  thou  shalt  make  unto  me,  and  shalt  sacri- 
fice thereon  thy  burnt  offerings,  and  thy  peace  offerings,  thy  sheep, 
and  thine  oxen  ;  in  all  places  where  I  record  my  name  I  will  come 
unto  thee,  and  I  will  bless  thee. 

25  And  if  thou  wilt  make  me  an  altar  of  stone,  thou  shalt  not 
build  it  of  hewn  stone  ;  for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  tool  upon  it,  thou 
hast  polluted  it. 

26  Neither  shalt  thou  go  up  by  steps  unto  mine  altar,  that  thy 
nakedness  be  not  discovered  thereon. 


Deuteronomy  32. 

THE   SONG    OF  MOSES. 

GIVE  ear,  O  ye  heavens,  and  I  will  speak  ;  and  hear,  O  earth, 
the  words  of  my  mouth. 

2  My  doctrine  shall  drop  as  the  rain,  my  speech  shall  distil  as 
the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb,  and  as  the 
showers  upon  the  grass  ; 

3  Because  I  will  publish  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  ascribe  ye 
greatness  unto  our  God. 

4  He  is  the  Rock,  his  work  is  perfect,  for  all  his  ways  are 
judgment ;  a  God  of  truth  and  without  inicjuity,  just  and  right  is 
he. 

5  They  have  corrupted  themselves,  their  spot  is  not  the  spot  of 
his  children  ;  they  are  a  perverse  and  crooked  generation. 

6  Do  ye  thus  recjuite  the  Lord,  O  foolish  i)eople  and  \mwise  ? 
is  not  he  thy  father  that  hath  bought  thee?  hath  he  not  made 
thee,  and  established  thee  ? 

7  Remember  the  days  of  old,  consider  the  years  of  many  gen- 
erations ;  ask  thy  father,  and  he  will  show  thee,  thy  elders,  and 
they  will  tell  thee. 

8  When  the  Most  High  divided  to  the  nations  their  inheritance, 
when  he  separated  the  sons  of  Aiiam,  he  set  the  bounds  of  the 
people  according  to  the  number  of  the  children  of  Israel. 


6  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

9  For  the  Ijdrd's  portion  is  his  people  ;  Jacob  is  the  lot  of  his 
inheritance. 

10  He  found  him  in  a  desert  land,  and  in  the  waste  howling 
wilderness  ;  he  led  him  about,  he  instructed  him,  he  kept  him  as 
the  apple  of  his  eye. 

11  As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  fluttereth  over  her  young, 
spreadeth  abroad  her  wings,  taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her 
wings, 

1 2  So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  him,  and  there  was  no  strange 
god  with  him. 

13  He  made  him  ride  on  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  that  he 
might  eat  the  increase  of  the  fields ;  and  he  made  him  to  suck 
honey  out  of  the  rock,  and  oil  out  of  the  flinty  rock  ; 

14  Butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of  sheep,  with  fat  of  lambs,  and 
rams  of  the  breed  of  Bashan,  and  goats,  with  the  fat  of  kidneys  of 
wheat ;  and  thou  didst  drink  the  pure  blood  of  the  grape. 

15  But  Jeshurun  waxed  fat,  and  kicked;  thou  art  waxen  fat, 
thou  art  grown  thick,  thou  art  covered  with  fatness ;  then  he  for- 
sook God  which  made  him,  and  lightly  esteemed  the  Rock  of  his 
salvation. 

16  They  provoked  him  to  jealousy  with  strange  gods,  with 
abominations  provoked  they  him  to  anger. 

1 7  They  sacrificed  unto  devils,  not  to  God  ;  to  gods  whom  they 
knew  not,  to  new  gods  that  came  newly  up,  whom  your  fathers 
feared  not. 

18  Of  the  Rock  that  begat  thee  thou  art  unmindful,  and  hast 
forgotten  God  that  formed  thee. 

19  And  when  the  Lord  saw  it,  he  abhorred  them,  because  of 
the  provoking  of  his  sons  and  of  his  daughters. 

20  And  he  said,  I  will  hide  my  face  from  them,  I  will  see  what 
their  end  shall  be,  for  they  are  a  very  froward  generation,  chil- 
dren in  whom  is  no  faith. 

21  They  have  moved  me  to  jealousy  with  that  which  is  not 
God  ;  they  have  provoked  me  to  anger  with  their  vanities  ;  and  I 
will  move  them  to  jealousy  with  those  which  are  not  a  people  ;  I 
will  provoke  them  to  anger  with  a  foolish  nation. 


DEUTEROA'OMY  32.  7 

22  For  a  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger,  and  shall  burn  unto  the 
lowest  hell,  and  shall  consume  the  earth  with  her  increase,  and 
set  on  fire  the  foundations  of  the  mountains. 

23  I  will  heap  mischiefs  upon  them  ;  I  will  spend  mine  arrows 
upon  them. 

24  They  shall  be  burnt  with  hunger,  and  devoured  with  burn- 
ing heat,  and  with  bitter  destruction  ;  I  will  also  send  the  teeth  of 
beasts  upon  them,  with  the  poison  of  serpents  of  the  dust. 

25  The  sword  without,  and  terror  within,  shall  destroy  both  the 
young  man  and  the  virgin,  the  suckling  also  with  the  man  of  gray 
hairs. 

26  I  said,  I  would  scatter  them  into  corners,  I  would  make 
the  remembrance  of  them  to  cease  from  among  men, 

27  Were  it  not  that  I  feared  the  wrath  of  the  enemy,  lest  their 
adversaries  should  behave  themselves  strangely,  and  lest  they 
should  say,  Our  hand  is  high,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  all 
this. 

28  For  they  are  a  nation  void  of  counsel,  neither  is  there  any 
understanding  in  them. 

29  O  that  they  were  wise,  that  they  understood  this,  that  they 
would  consider  their  latter  end  ! 

30  How  should  one  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thou- 
sand to  flight,  except  their  Rock  had  sold  them,  and  th(*  L<ird 
had  shut  them  up  ? 

31  For  their  rock  is  not  as  our  Rock,  even  our  enemies  them- 
selves being  judges. 

32  For  their  vine  is  of  the  vine  of  Sodom,  and  of  the  fields 
of  Gomorrah  ;  their  grapes  arc  grapes  of  gall,  their  clusters  are 
bitter  ; 

■x^T^  Their  wine  is  the  j)oison  of  dragons,  and  the  cruel  venom 
of  asps. 

34  Is  not  this  laid  up  in  store  with  me,  and  sealed  up  among 
my  treasures? 

35  To  me  belongeth  vengeance  and  recompense  :  their  foot 
shall  slide  in  due  time  ;  for  the  d.iy  of  their  ralamitv  is  at  hand, 
and  the  things  that  shall  come  upon  them  make  haste. 


8  BIBLICAL    SELECTIONS. 

36  For  the  Lord  shall  judge  his  people,  and  repent  himself  for 
his  servants,  when  he  seeth  that  their  power  is  gone,  and  there  is 
none  shut  up,  or  left. 

37  And  he  shall  say,  Where  are  their  gods,  their  rock  in  whom 
they  trusted, 

38  Which  did  eat  the  fat  of  their  sacrifices,  and  drank  the  wine 
of  their  drink  offerings  ?  let  them  rise  up  and  help  you,  and  be 
your  protection. 

39  See  now  that  I,  even  I,  am  he,  and  there  is  no  god  with 
me  ;  I  kill,  and  I  make  alive  ;  I  wound,  and  I  heal ;  neither  is 
there  any  that  can  deliver  out  of  my  hand. 

40  For  I  lift  up  my  hand  to  heaven,  and  say,  I  live  for  ever. 

41  If  I  whet  my  glittering  sword,  and  mine  hand  take  hold  on 
judgment,  I  will  render  vengeance  to  mine  enemies,  and  will 
reward  them  that  hate  me. 

42  I  will  make  mine  arrows  drunk  with  blood,  and  my  sword 
shall  devour  flesh  ;  and  that  with  the  blood  of  the  slain  and  of  the 
captives,  from  the  beginning  of  revenges  upon  the  enemy. 

43  Rejoice,  O  ye  nations,  with  his  people ;  for  he  will  avenge 
the  blood  of  his  servants,  and  will  render  vengeance  to  his  adver- 
saries, and  will  be  merciful  unto  his  land  and  to  his  people. 

44  And  Moses  came  and  spake  all  the  words  of  this  song  in 
the  eaft  of  the  people,  he,  and  Hoshea  the  son  of  Nun. 

45  And  Moses  made  an  end  of  speaking  all  these  words  to  all 
Israel ; 

46  And  he  said  unto  them,  Set  your  hearts  unto  all  the  words 
which  I  testify  among  you  this  day,  which  ye  shall  command  your 
children  to  observe  to  do,  all  the  words  of  this  law. 

47  For  it  is  not  a  vain  thing  for  you;  because  it  is  your  life, 
and  through  this  thing  ye  shall  prolong  your  days  in  the  land, 
whither  ye  go  over  Jordan  to  possess  it. 

48  And  the  Ix)rd  spake  unto  Moses  that  selfsame  day,  saying, 

49  Get  thee  up  into  this  mountain  Abarim,  unto  mount  Nebo 
which  is  in  the  land  of  Moab,  that  is  over  against  Jericho  ;  and 
behold  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  I  give  unto  the  children  of 
Israel  for  a  possession  ; 


a  SAMUEL   i :  17-27.  9 

50  And  die  in  the  mount  whither  thou  goest  up,  and  be  gath- 
ered unto  thy  people,  as  Aaron  thy  brother  died  in  mount  Hor, 
and  was  gathered  unto  his  people  ; 

51  Because  ye  trespassed  against  me  amOng  the  children  of 
Israel  at  the  waters  of  Meribah-Kadesh,  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin  ; 
because  ye  sanctified  me  not  in  the  midst  of  the  children  of  Israel. 

52  Yet  thou  shalt  see  the  land  before  thee ;  but  thou  shalt  not 
go  thither  unto  the  land  which  I  give  the  children  of  Israel. 


2  Samuel  i  :  17-27. 

DAVID'S  LAMENT   OVER   SAUL  AND  JONATHAN. 

AND    David    lamented  with    this  lamentation  over  Saul  and 
over  Jonathan  his  son  : 

18  (Also  he  bade  them  teach  the  children  of  Judah  the  use  of 
the  bow ;  behold,  it  is  written  in  the  book  of  Jasher.) 

19  The  beauty  of  Israel  is  slain  upon  thy  high  places  ;  how  are 
the  mighty  fallen  ! 

20  Tell  it  not  in  Gath,  publish  it  not  in  the  streets  of  Askelon  ; 
lest  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines  rejoice,  lest  the  daughters  of 
the  uncircumcised  triumph. 

21  Ye  mountains  of  Gilboa,  let  there  be  no  dew,  neither  let 
there  be  rain,  upon  you,  nor  fields  of  offerings  ;  for  there  the  shield 
of  the  mighty  is  vilely  cast  away,  the  shield  of  Saul,  as  though  he 
had  not  been  anointed  with  oil. 

22  f>om  the  blood  of  the  slain,  from  the  fat  of  the  mighty,  the 
bow  of  Jonathan  turned  not  back,  and  the  sword  of  Saul  returned 
not  empty. 

23  Saul  and  Jonathan  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives, 
and  in  their  death  they  were  not  divided  ;  they  were  swifter  than 
eagles,  they  were  stronger  than  lions. 

24  Ye  daughters  of  Israel,  weep  over  Saul,  who  clothed  you  in 
scarlet,  with  other  delights,  who  put  on  ornaments  of  gold  upon 
your  apparel. 


10  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

25  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  in  the  midst  of  the  battle  !  O 
Jonathan,  thou  wast  slain  in  thine  high  places. 

26  I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan  ;  very  pleasant 
hast  thou  been  unto  me ;  thy  love  to  me  was  wonderful,  passing 
the  love  of  women. 

2  7  How  are  the  mighty  fallen,  and  the  weapons  of  war  perished  ! 


I  Kings  8. 

DEDICATION  OF  THE    TEMPLE  AND   SOLOMON'S  PRAYER. 

THEN  Solomon  assembled  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  all  the 
heads  of  the  tribes,  the  chief  of  the  fathers  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  unto  king  Solomon  in  Jerusalem,  that  they  might  bring 
up  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  out  of  the  city  of  David, 
which  is  Zion. 

2  And  all  the  men  of  Israel  assembled  themselves  unto  king 
Solomon  at  the  feast  in  the  month  Ethanim,  which  is  the  seventh 
month. 

3  And  all  the  elders  of  Israel  came,  and  the  j^riests  took  up  the 
ark. 

4  And  they  brought  up  the  ark  of  the  Lorm,  and  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation,  and  all  the  holy  vessels  that  were  in  the 
tabernacle,  even  those  did  the  priests  and  the  Levites  bring  up. 

5  And  king  Solomon,  and  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  that 
were  assembled  imto  him,  were  with  him  before  the  ark,  sacrific- 
ing sheep  and  oxen,  that  could  not  be  told  nor  numbered  for 
multitude. 

6  And  the  priests  brought  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the 
Ix)RD  unto  his  place,  into  the  oracle  of  the  house,  to  the  most  holy 
place,  even  under  the  wings  of  the  cherubims. 

7  Eor  the  cherubims  spread  forth  their  two  wings  over  the  place 
of  the  ark,  and  the  cherubims  covered  the  ark  and  the  staves 
thereof  above. 


/  ICINGS  8.  11 

8  And  they  drew  out  the  staves,  that  the  ends  of  the  staves  were 
seen  out  in  the  holy  place  before  the  oracle,  and  they  were  not 
seen  without ;  and  there  they  are  unto  this  day. 

9  There  was  nothing  in  the  ark  save  the  two  tables  of  stone 
which  Moses  put  there  at  Horeb,  when  the  Lord  made  a  covenant 
with  the  children  of  Israel,  when  they  came  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt. 

10  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  priests  were  come  out  of  the 
holy  place,  that  the  cloud  filled  the  house  of  the  IvOrd, 

1 1  So  that  the  priests  could  not  stand  to  minister  because  of  the 
cloud ;  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord  had  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

1 2  Then  spake  Solomon,  The  Lord  said  that  he  would  dwell  in 
the  thick  darkness. 

13  I  have  surely  built  thee  an  house  to  dwell  in,  a  settled  place 
for  thee  to  abide  in  for  ever. 

14  And  the  king  turned  his  face  about,  and  blessed  all  the  con- 
gregation of  Israel ;  (and  all  the  congregation  of  Israel  stood  ;) 

15  And  he  said,  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  which 
spake  with  his  mouth  unto  David  my  father,  and  hath  with  his 
hand  fulfilled  it,  saying, 

16  Since  the  day  that  I  brought  forth  my  people  Israel  out  of 
Egypt,  I  chose  no  city  out  of  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  to  build  an 
house,  that  my  name  might  be  therein ;  but  I  chose  David  to  be 
over  my  people  Israel. 

1 7  And  it  was  in  the  heart  of  David  my  father  to  build  an  house 
for  the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel. 

I?  And  the  Lord  said  unto  David  my  father,  Whereas  it  was  in 
thine  heart  to  build  an  house  unto  my  name,  thou  didst  well  that  it 
was  in  thine  heart. 

19  Nevertheless  thou  shalt  not  build  the  house  ;  but  thy  son 
that  shall  come  forth  out  of  thy  loins,  he  shall  build  the  house 
unto  my  name. 

20  And  the  Lord  hath  performed  his  word  that  he  spake,  and 
I  am  risen  up  in  the  room  of  David  my  father,  and  sit  on  the 
throne  of  Israel,  as  the  Lord  promised,  and  have  built  an  house  for 
the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel. 


11  BIBLICAL  SELECTIONS. 

21  And  I  hare  set  there  a  {dace  for  the  ark,  wherein  is  the 
covenant  of  the  Lord,  which  he  made  with  our  fathers,  when  he 
bfought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

22  And  Solomon  stood  befcare  the  altar  of  the  Lord  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  congregation  of  Israel,  and  spread  forth  his 
hajods  toward  heaven ; 

23  And  he  said.  Lord  God  of  Israel,  there  is  no  God  like  thee, 
in  heaven  above,  or  on  earth  beneath,  who  keepest  covenant 
and  mercy  with  thy  servants  that  walk  before  thee  with  aU  their 
heart ; 

24  Who  hast  kept  with  thy  servant  David  my  father  that  thou 
promisedst  him  ;  thou  spakest  also  with  thy  mouth,  and  hast  ^- 
filled  it  with  thine  hand,  as  it  is  this  day. 

25  Therefore  now.  Lord  God  of  Israel,  keep  with  thy  servant 
David  my  father  that  thou  promisedst  him,  saying.  There  shall  not 
fail  thee  a  man  in  my  sight  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  Israel ;  so  that 
thy  children  take  heed  to  their  way,  that  they  walk  before  me  as 
thou  hast  walked  befcH-e  me. 

26  And  now,  O  God  of  Israel,  let  thy  word,  I  pray  thee,  be 
verified,  which  thou  spakest  unto  thy  servant  David  my  father. 

27  But  win  God  indeed  dwell  on  the  earth?  behold,  the  heaven 
and  heaven  of  heavens  carmot  contain  thee ;  how  much  less  this 
house  that  I  have  builded  ? 

28  Yet  have  thou  respect  unto  the  prayer  of  thy  servant,  and  to 
his  sapphcation,  O  Lord  my  God,  to  hearken  unto  the  cry  and  to 
the  prayer,  which  thy  servant  prayeth  before  thee  to  day ; 

29  That  thine  eyes  may  be  open  toward  this  house  night  and 
day,  even  toward  the  place  of  which  thou  hast  said,  My  name  shall 
be  there ;  that  thou  mayest  hearken  unto  the  prayer  which  thy 
servant  shall  make  toward  this  place. 

30  And  hearken  thou  to  the  supplication  of  thy  servant,  and  of 
thy  people  Israel,  when  they  shall  pray  toward  this  place  ;  and  hear 
thou  in  heaven  thy  dwelling  place  :  and  when  thou  hearest,  forgive. 

31  If  any  man  trespass  against  his  neighbor,  and  an  oath  be 
laid  upon  him  to  cause  him  to  swear,  and  the  oath  come  before 
thine  altar  in  this  house ; 


/  KINGS  8.  13 

32  Then  hear  thou  in  heaven,  and  do,  and  judge  thy  servants, 
condemning  the  wicked,  to  bring  his  way  upon  his  head,  and 
justifying  the  righteous,  to  give  him  according  to  his  righteousness. 

T,;^  When  thy  people  Israel  be  smitten  down  before  the  enemy, 
because  they  have  sinned  against  thee,  and  shall  turn  again  to  thee, 
and  confess  thy  name,  and  pray,  and  make  supplication  unto  thee 
in  this  house  ; 

34  Then  hear  thou  in  heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  thy  people 
Israel,  and  bring  them  again  unto  the  land  which  thou  gavest  unto 
their  fathers. 

35  When  heaven  is  shut  up,  and  there  is  no  rain,  because  they 
have  sinned  against  thee  ;  if  they  pray  toward  this  place,  and  con- 
fess thy  name,  and  turn  from  their  sin,  when  thou  afflictest  them ; 

36  Then  hear  thou  in  heaven,  and  forgive  the  sin  of  thy  ser- 
vants, and  of  thy  people  Israel,  that  thou  teach  them  the  good  way 
wherein  they  should  walk,  and  give  rain  upon  thy  land,  which  thou 
hast  given  to  thy  people  for  an  inheritance. 

37  If  there  be  in  the  land  famine,  if  there  be  pestilence,  blast- 
ing, mildew,  locust,  or  if  there  be  caterpillar ;  if  their  enemy  be- 
siege them  in  the  land  of  their  cities ;  whatsoever  plague,  what- 
soever sickness  there  be  ; 

38  What  prayer  and  supplication  soever  be  made  by  any  man, 
or  by  all  thy  people  Israel,  which  shall  know  every  man  the  plague 
of  his  own  heart,  and  spread  forth  his  hands  toward  this  house  ; 

39  Then  hear  thou  in  heaven  thy  dwelling  place,  and  forgive, 
and  do,  and  give  to  every  man  according  to  his  ways,  whose  heart 
thou  knowest  ;  (for  thou,  even  thou  only,  knowest  the  hearts  of  all 
the  children  of  men  ;) 

40  That  they  may  fear  thee  all  the  days  that  they  live  in  the 
land  which  thou  gavest  unto  our  fathers. 

41  Moreover  concerning  a  stranger,  that  is  not  of  thy  people 
Israel,  but  cometh  out  of  a  far  coimtry  for  thy  name's  sake  ; 

42  (For  they  shall  hear  of  thy  great  name,  and  of  thy  strong 
hand,  and  of  thy  stretched  out  arm  ;)  when  he  shall  come  and 
pray  toward  this  house  ; 

43  Hear  thou  in  heaven  thy  dwelling  place,  and  do  according  to 


14  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

all  that  the  stranger  calleth  to  thee  for ;  that  all  people  of  the  earth 
may  know  thy  name,  to  fear  thee,  as  do  thy  people  Israel ;  and 
that  they  may  know  that  this  house,  which  I  have  builded,  is  called 
by  thy  name. 

44  If  thy  people  go  out  to  battle  against  their  enemy,  whither- 
soever thou  shalt  send  them,  and  shall  pray  unto  the  Lord  toward 
the  city  which  thou  hast  chosen,  and  toward  the  house  that  I  have 
built  for  thy  name  ; 

45  Then  hear  thou  in  heaven  their  prayer  and  their  supplication, 
and  maintain  their  cause. 

46  If  they  sin  against  thee,  (for  there  is  no  man  that  sinneth 
not,)  and  thou  be  angry  with  them,  and  deliver  them  to  the 
enemy,  so  that  they  carry  them  away  captives  unto  the  land  of  the 
enemy,  far  or  near  ; 

47  Yet  if  they  shall  bethink  themselves  in  the  land  whither  they 
were  carried  captives,  and  repent,  and  make  supplication  unto 
thee  in  the  land  of  them  that  carried  them  captives,  saying,  We 
have  sinned,  and  have  done  perversely,  we  have  committed 
wickedness ;  ^^ 

48  And  so  return  unto  thee  with  all  their  heart  and  with  all 
their  soul,  in  the  land  of  their  enemies  which  led  them  away 
captive,  and  pray  unto  thee  toward  their  land,  which  thou  gavest 
unto  their  fathers,  the  city  which  thou  hast  chosen,  and  the  house 
which  I  have  built  for  thy  name  ; 

49  Then  hear  thou  their  prayer  and  their  supplication  in  heaven 
thy  dwelling  place,  and  maintain  their  cause, 

50  And  forgive  thy  people  that  have  sinned  against  thee,  and  all 
their  transgressions  wherein  they  have  transgressed  against  thee, 
and  give  them  compassion  before  them  who  carried  them  captive, 
that  they  may  have  compassion  on  them  \ 

5 1  For  they  be  thy  people,  and  thine  inheritance,  which  thou 
broughtest  forth  out  of  Egypt,  from  the  midst  of  the  furnace  of 
iron  ; 

52  That  thine  eyes  may  be  open  unto  the  supplication  of  thy 
servant,  and  unto  the  supplication  of  thy  people  Israel,  to  hearken 
unto  them  in  all  that  they  call  for  unto  thee. 


/  KINGS  8.  IS 

53  For  thou  didst  separate  them  from  among  all  the  people  of 
the  earth  to  be  thine  inheritance,  as  thou  spakest  by  the  hand  of 
Moses  thy  servant,  when  thou  broughtest  our  fathers  out  of  Egypt, 
O  Lord  Cod. 

54  And  it  was  so,  that  when  Solomon  had  made  an  end  of 
praying  all  this  prayer  and  supplication  unto  the  Lorf),  he  arose 
from  before  the  altar  of  the  Lord,  from  kneeling  on  his  knees  with 
his  hands  spread  up  to  heaven. 

55  And  he  stood,  and  blessed  all  the  congregation  of  Israel  with 
a  loud  voice,  saying, 

56  Blessed  be  the  Ixdrd,  that  hath  given  rest  unto  his  people 
Israel,  according  to  all  that  he  promised  :  there  hath  not  failed  one 
word  of  all  his  good  promise,  which  he  promised  by  the  hand  of 
Moses  his  servant. 

57  The  Lord  our  God  be  with  us,  as  he  was  with  our  fathers; 
let  him  not  leave  us,  nor  forsake  us  ; 

58  That  he  may  incline  our  hearts  unto  him,  to  walk  in  all  his 
ways,  and  to  keep  his  commandments,  and  his  statutes,  and  his 
judgments,  which  he  commanded  our  fathers. 

59  And  let  these  my  words,^^erewith  I  have  made  supplication 
before  the  Lord,  be  nigh  unto  the  Lord  our  God  day  and  night, 
that  he  maintain  the  cause  of  his  servant,  and  the  cause  of  his 
people  Israel  at  all  times,  as  the  matter  shall  require  ; 

60  That  all  the  people  of  the  earth  may  know  that  the  Lord  is 
God,  and  that  there  is  none  else. 

61  Let  your  heart  therefore  be  perfect  with  the  Lord  our  God. 
to  walk  in  his  statutes,  and  to  keep  his  commandments,  as  at  this 
day. 

62  And  the  king,  and  all  Israel  with  him,  offered  sacrifice  before 
the  Lord. 

63  And  Solomon  offered  a  sacrifice  of  peace  offerings,  which 
he  offered  unto  the  I/)RI),  two  and  twenty  thousand  oxen,  and  an 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand  sheep.  So  the  king  and  all  the 
children  of  Israel  dedicated  the  house  of  the  I/>rd. 

64  The  same  day  did  the  king  hallow  the  middle  of  the  court 
that  was  before  the  house  of  the  Lord  ;  for  there  he  offered  burnt 


16  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

offerings,  and  meat  offerings,  and  the  fat  of  the  peace  offerings  ; 
because  the  brazen  altar  that  was  before  the  Lord  was  too  Uttle  to 
receive  the  burnt  offerings,  and  meat  offerings,  and  the  fat  of  the 
peace  offerings. 

65  And  at  that  time  Solomon  held  a  feast,  and  all  Israel  with  him, 
a  great  congregation,  from  the  entering  in  of  Hamath  unto  the 
river  of  Egypt,  before  the  Lord  our  God,  seven  days  and  seven 
days,  even  fourteen  days. 

66  On  the  eighth  day  he  sent  the  people  away  ;  and  they  blessed 
the  king,  and  went  unto  their  tents  joyful  and  glad  of  heart  for  all 
the  goodness  that  the  Lord  had  done  for  David  his  servant,  and 
for  Israel  his  people. 


Psalm  23. 

THE  Lord  is  my  shepherd  ;  I  shall  not  want. 
2  He   maketh   me    to   lie  down  in   green   pastures ;    he 
leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters. 

3  He  restoreth  my  soul ;  he  l^^leth  me  in  the  paths  of  right- 
eousness for  his  name's  sake. 

4  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
I  will  fear  no  evil ;  for  thou  art  with  me  ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff 
they  comfort  me. 

5  Thou  preparest  a  table  before  me  in  the  presence  of  mine 
enemies  ;  thou  anointest  my  head  with  oil ;  my  cup  nmneth  over. 

6  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of 
my  hfe  ;  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  for  ever. 


Psalm  32. 

BLESSED  is  he  whose  transgression  is  forgiven,  whose  sin  is 
covered. 
2  Blessed    is    the   man   unto    whom    the    Lord   imputeth  not 
iniquity,  and  in  whose  spirit  there  is  no  guile. 


PSALM  go.  17 

3  When  I  kept  silence,  my  bones  waxed  old  through  my  roar- 
ing all  the  day  long. 

4  For  day  and  night  thy  hand  was  heavy  upon  me  ;  my  moist- 
ure is  turned  into  the  drought  of  summer.  [Seiah. 

5  I  acknowledged  my  sin  unto  thee,  and  mine  iniquity  have  I 
not  hid.  I  said,  I  will  confess  my  transgressions  unto  the  Lord  ; 
and  thou  forgavest  the  iniquity  of  my  sin.  [Sciah. 

6  For  this  shall  every  one  that  is  godly  pray  unto  thee  in  a 
time  when  thou  mayest  be  found ;  surely  in  the  floods  of  great 
waters  they  shall  not  come  nigh  unto  him. 

7  Thou  art  my  hiding  place;  thou  shalt  preserve  me  from 
trouble ;  thou  shalt  compass  me  about  with  songs  of  deliverance. 

[Selah. 

8  I  will  instruct  thee  and  teach  thee  in  the  way  which  thou 
shalt  go ;  I  will  guide  thee  with  mine  eye. 

9  Be  ye  not  as  the  horse,  or  as  the  mule,  which  have  no  under- 
standing ;  whose  mouth  must  be  held  in  with  bit  and  bridle,  lest 
they  come  near  unto  thee. 

10  Many  sorrows  shall  be  to  the  wicked  ;  but  he  that  trusteth 
in  the  Lord,  mercy  shall  compass  him  about. 

1 1  Be  glad  in  the  Lord,  and  rejoice,  ye  righteous ;  and  shout 
for  joy,  all  ye  that  are  upright  in  heart. 


Psalm  90. 

LORD,  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling  place  in  all  generations. 
^     2   Before  the  mountains  were  brought  forth,  or  ever  thou 
hadst  formed  the  earth  and  the  world,  even  from  everlasting  to 
everlasting,  thou  art  Clod. 

3  Thou   turnest   man   to   destruction ;   and   sayest,    Return,  ye 
children  of  men. 

4  For  a  thousand  years  in  thy  sight  are  but  as  yesterday  when 
it  is  past,  and  as  a  watch  in  the  night. 

5  Thou  carriest  them  away  as  with  a  flood  ;  they  arc  as  a  sleep  ; 
in  the  morning  they  are  like  grass  which  groweth  up. 


18  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

6  In  the  morning  it  flourisheth,  and  groweth  up  ;  in  the  even- 
ing it  is  cut  down,  and  withereth. 

7  For  we  are  consumed  by  thine  anger,  and  by  thy  wrath  are 
we  troubled. 

8  Thou  hast  set  our  iniquities  before  thee,  our  secret  sins  in 
the  light  of  thy  countenance. 

9  For  all  our  days  are  passed  away  in  thy  wrath  ;  we  spend  our 
years  as  a  tale  that  is  told. 

10  The  days  of  our  years  are  threescore  years  and  ten ;  and  if 
by  reason  of  strength  they  be  fourscore  years,  yet  is  their  strength 
labor  and  sorrow ;  for  it  is  soon  cut  off,  and  we  fly  away. 

1 1  Who  knoweth  the  power  of  thine  anger  ?  even  according  to 
thy  fear,  so  is  thy  wrath. 

12  So  teach  us  to  number  our  days,  that  we  may  apply  our 
hearts  unto  wisdom. 

13  Return,  O  Lord,  how  long  !  and  let  it  repent  thee  concern- 
ing thy  servants. 

14  O  satisfy  us  early  with  thy  mercy,  that  we  may  rejoice  and 
be  glad  all  our  days. 

15  Make  us  glad  according  to  the  days  wherein  thou  hast 
afflicted  us,  and  the  years  wherein  we  have  seen  evil. 

1 6  Let  thy  work  appear  unto  thy  servants,  and  thy  glory  unto 
their  children. 

1 7  And  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon  us  ;  and 
establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us ;  yea,  the  work  of 
our  hands  establish  thou  it. 


Psalm  91. 

HE  that  dweUeth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High  shall 
abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty. 

2  I  will  say  of  the  Lord,  He  is  my  refuge  and  my  fortress ;  my 
God  ;  in  him  will  I  trust. 

3  Surely  he  shall  deliver  thee  from  the  snare  of  the  fowler,  and 
from  the  noisome  pestilence. 


PSALM  103.  19 

4  He  shall  cover  thee  with  his  feathers,  and  under  his  wings 
shalt  thou  tnist ;  his  truth  shall  be  thy  shield  and  buckler. 

5  Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  for  the  terror  by  night ;  nor  for  the 
arrow  that  flieth  by  day  ; 

6  Nor  for  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness ;  nor  for  the 
destruction  that  wasteth  at  noonday. 

7  A  thousand  shall  fall  at  thy  side,  and  ten  thousand  at  thy 
right  hand  ;  but  it  shall  not  come  nigh  thee. 

8  Only  with  thine  eyes  shalt  thou  behold  and  see  the  reward  of 
the  wicked. 

9  Because  thou  hast  made  the  Lord,  which  is  my  refuge,  even 
the  Most  High,  thy  habitation, 

10  There  shall  no  evil  befall  thee,  neither  shall  any  plague  come 
nigh  thy  dwelling. 

1 1  For  he  shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee 
in  all  thy  ways. 

1 2  They  shall  bear  thee  up  in  their  hands,  lest  thou  dash  thy 
foot  against  a  stone. 

13  Thou  shalt  tread  upon  the  lion  and  adder;  the  young  lion 
and  the  dragon  shalt  thou  trample  under  feet. 

14  Because  he  hath  set  his  love  upon  me,  therefore  will  I 
deliver  him  ;  I  will  set  him  on  high,  because  he  hath  known  my 
name. 

15  He  shall  call  upon  me,  and  I  will  answer  him  ;  I  will  be  with 
him  in  trouble  ;  I  will  deliver  him,  and  honor  him. 

16  With  long  life  will  I  satisfy  him,  and  show  him  my  salvation. 


Psalm  103. 

BLESS  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ;  and  all  that  is  within  me,  bless 
his  holy  name. 

2  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits  ; 

3  Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities  ;  who  healeth  all  thy  dis- 
eases ; 


20  BIBLICAL  SELECTIONS. 

4  Who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction ;  who  crowneth  thee 
with  lovingkindness  and  tender  mercies  ; 

5  Who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things  ;  so  that  thy  youth 
is  renewed  Hke  the  eagle's. 

6  The  Lord  executeth  righteousness  and  judgment  for  all  that 
are  oppressed. 

7  He  made  known  his  ways  unto  Moses,  his  acts  unto  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel. 

8  The  Lord  is  merciful  and  gracious,  slow  to  anger,  and  plen- 
teous in  mercy. 

9  He  will  not  always  chide ;  neither  will  he  keep  his  anger  for 
ever. 

10  He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins ;  nor  rewarded  us 
according  to  our  iniquities. 

1 1  For  as  the  heaven  is  high  above  the  earth,  so  great  is  his 
mercy  toward  them  that  fear  him. 

12  As  far  as  the  east  is  from  the  west,  so  far  hath  he  removed 
our  transgressions  from  us. 

13  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth 
them  that  fear  him. 

14  For  he  knoweth  our  frame  ;  he  remembereth  that  we  are  dust. 

1 5  As  for  man,  his  days  are  as  grass ;  as  a  flower  of  the  field, 
so  he  flourisheth. 

16  For  the  wind  passeth  over  it,  and  it  is  gone  ;  and  the  place 
thereof  shall  know  it  no  more. 

1 7  But  the  mercy  of  the  Lord  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting 
upon  them  that  fear  him,  and  his  righteousness  unto  children's 
children, 

18  To  such  as  keep  his  covenant,  and  to  those  that  remember 
his  commandments  to  do  them. 

1 9  The  Lord  hath  prepared  his  throne  in  the  heavens ;  and  his 
kingdom  ruleth  over  all. 

20  Bless  the  Lord,  ye  his  angels,  that  excel  in  strength,  that  do 
his  commandments,  hearkening  unto  the  voice  of  his  word. 

2 1  Bless  ye  the  Lord,  all  ye  his  hosts ;  ye  ministers  of  his,  that 
do  his  pleasure. 


PSALM  iig.  21 

2  2  Bless  the  Lord,  all  his  works  in  all  places  of  his  dominion  ; 
bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul. 


Psalm  1 12. 

PRAISE  ye  the  I^rd.     Blessed  is  the  man  that   feareth  the 
Lord,  that  delighteth  greatly  in  his  commandments. 

2  His  seed  shall  be  mighty  upon  earth  ;  the  generation  of  the 
upright  shall  be  blessed. 

3  Wealth  and  riches  shall  be  in  his  house  ;  and  his  righteous- 
ness endureth  for  ever. 

4  Unto  the  upright  there  ariseth  light  in  the  darkness ;  he  is 
gracious,  and  full  of  compassion,  and  righteous. 

5  A  good  man  sheweth  favor,  and  lendeth  ;  he  will  guide  his 
affairs  with  discretion. 

6  Surely  he  shall  not  be  moved  for  ever ;  the  righteous  shall  be 
in  everlasting  remembrance. 

7  He  shall  not  be  afraid  of  evil  tidings ;  his  heart  is  fixed, 
trusting  in  the  Lord. 

8  His  heart  is  established,  he  shall  not  be  afraid,  until  he  see 
his  desire  upon  his  enemies. 

9  He  hath  dispersed,  he  hath  given  to  the  poor ;  his  righteous- 
ness endureth  for  ever  ;  his  horn  shall  be  exalted  with  honor. 

10  The  wicked  shall  see  it,  and  be  grieved  ;  he  shall  gnash 
with  his  teeth,  and  melt  away  ;  the  desire  of  the  wicked  shall 
perish. 


Psalm  1 19. 


K  (Ai.EPuV 

BLESSED  are  the  undefiled  in  the  way,  who  walk  in  the  law 
of  the  Ix)RD. 

2  Blessed  are   they  that   keep   his  testimonies,  and   that  seek 
him  with  the  whole  heart. 

3  They  also  do  no  iniquity  ;  they  walk  in  his  ways. 


22  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

4  Thou  hast  commanded  us  to  keep  thy  precepts  diligently. 

5  O  that  my  ways  were  directed  to  keep  thy  statutes  ! 

6  Then  shall  I  not  be  ashamed,  when  I  have  respect  unto  all 
thy  commandments. 

7  I  will  praise  thee  with   uprightness  of   heart,  when   I  shall 
have  learned  thy  righteous  judgments. 

8  I  will  keep  thy  statutes ;  O  forsake  me  not  utterly. 

3  (Beth). 

9  Wherewithal  shall  a  young  man  cleanse  his  way?  by  taking 
heed  thereto  according  to  thy  word. 

10  With  my  whole  heart  have  I   sought  thee;  O  let  me  not 
wander  from  thy  commandments. 

1 1  Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  mine  heart,  that  I  might  not  sin 
against  thee. 

1 2  Blessed  art  thou,  O  Lord  ;  teach  me  thy  statutes. 

13  With  my  lips  have   I   declared  all  the  judgments  of  thy 
mouth. 

14  I  have  rejoiced  in  the  way  of  thy  testimonies,  as  much  as 
in  all  riches. 

15  I  will  meditate  in  thy  precepts,  and  have  respect  unto  thy 
ways. 

16  I  will  delight  myself  in  thy  statutes;  I  will  not  forget  thy 
word. 

2  (GiMEL). 

1 7  Deal  bountifully  with  thy  servant,  that  I  may  live,  and  keep 
thy  word. 

18  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous  things 
out  of  thy  law. 

19  I  am  a  stranger  in  the  earth;  hide  not  thy  commandments 
from  me. 

20  My  soul   breaketh   for   the  longing  that  it  hath  unto  thy 
judgments  at  all  times. 

2 1  Thou  hast  rebuked  the  proud  that  are  cursed,  which  do  err 
from  thy  commandments. 


PSALM  itg.  23 

22  Remove  from  me  reproach  and  contempt ;  for  I  have  kept 
thy  testimonies. 

23  Princes  also  did  sit  and  speak  against  me ;  but  thy  servant 
did  meditate  in  thy  statutes. 

24  Thy  testimonies  also  are  my  delight  and  my  counsellors. 

"T  (Daleth). 

25  My  soul  clfeveth  unto  the  dust ;  quicken  thou  me  according 
to  thy  word. 

26  I    have   declared   my  ways,  and  thou  heardest  me ;    teach 
me  thy  statutes. 

27  Make  me  to  understand  the  way  of  thy  precepts ;  so  shall  I 
talk  of  thy  wondrous  works. 

28  My  soul  melteth  for  heaviness  ;  strengthen  thou  me  accord- 
ing unto  thy  word. 

29  Remove  from  me  the  way  of  lying ;  and  grant  me  thy  law 
graciously. 

30  I  have  chosen  the  way  of  truth  ;  thy  judgments  have  I  laid 
before  me. 

3  r  I  have  stuck  unto  thy  testimonies  ;  O  Lord,  put  me  not  to 
shame. 

32  I  will  run  the  way  of  thy -commandments,  when  thou  shalt 
enlarge  my  heart. 

n(HE). 

33  Teach  me,  O  Lord,  the  way  of  thy  statutes  ;  and  I  shall 
keep  it  unto  the  end. 

34  Give  me  understanding,  and   I  shall  keep  thy  law  ;  yea,  I 
shall  observe  it  with  my  whole  heart. 

35  Make  me  to  go  in   the   path   of  thy  commandments  ;  for 
therein  do  I  delight. 

36  Incline  my  heart  unto  thy  testimonies,  and  not  to  covetousness. 

37  Turn  away  mine  eyes  from  beholding  vanity  ;  and  quicken 
thou  me  in  thy  way. 

38  Stablish  thy  word  unto  thy  servant,  who  is  devoted  to  thy 
fear. 


24  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

39  Turn  away  my  reproach  which  I  fear;  for  thy  judgments 
are  good. 

40  Behold,  I  have  longed  after  thy  precepts ;  quicken  me  in 
thy  righteousness. 

1  (Vau). 

41  Let  thy  mercies  come  also  unto  me,  O  Lord,  even  thy  sal- 
vation, according  to  thy  word. 

42  So  shall  I  have  wherewith  to  answer  hin»  that  reproacheth 
me  ;  for  I  trust  in  thy  word. 

43  And  take  not  the  word  of  truth  utterly  out  of  my  mouth ; 
for  I  have  hoped  in  thy  judgments. 

44  So  shall  I  keep  thy  law  continually  for  ever  and  ever. 

45  And  I  will  walk  at  liberty ;  for  I  seek  thy  precepts. 

46  I  will  speak  of  thy  testimonies  also  before  kings,  and  will 
not  be  ashamed. 

47  And  I  will  delight  myself  in  thy  commandments,  which  I 
have  loved. 

48  My  hands  also  will  I  lift  up  unto  thy  commandments,  which 
I  have  loved  ;  and  I  will  meditate  in  thy  statutes. 

1  (Zain). 

49  Remember  the  word  unto  thy  servant,  upon  which  thou 
hast  caused  me  to  hope. 

50  This  is  my  comfort   in  my  affliction ;    for  thy  word  hath 
quickened  me. 

5 1  The  proud  have  had  me  greatly  in  derision ;  yet  have  I  not 
declined  from  thy  law. 

52  I  remembered  thy  judgments  of  old,  O  Lord;    and  have 
comforted  myself. 

53  Horror  hath  taken  hold  upon  me   because  of  the  wicked 
that  forsake  thy  law. 

54  Thy  statutes  have  been  my  songs  in  the  house  of  my  pil- 
grimage. 

55  1  have  remembered  thy  name,  O  Lord,  in  the  night,  and 
have  kept  thy  law. 

56  This  I  had,  because  I  kept  thy  precepts. 


PSALAf  itg.  25 

n  (Cheth). 

57  Thou  art  my  portion,  O  lAmn;  I  have  said  that   I  would 
keep  thy  words. 

58  I  entreated  thy  favor   with  my  whole  heart;    be   merciful 
unto  me  according  to  thy  word. 

59  I  thought  on  my  ways,  and  turned  my  feet  unto  thy  testi- 
monies. 

60  I  made  haste,  and  delayed  not  to  keep  thy  commandments. 

61  The  bands  of  the  wicked  have  robbed  me:  but  I  have  not 
forgotten  thy  law. 

62  At  midnight  I  will  rise  to  give  thanks  unto  thee  because  of 
thy  righteous  judgments. 

63  I  am  a  companion  of  all  them  that  fear  thee,  and  of  them 
that  keep  thy  precepts. 

64  The  earth,  O  Lord,  is  full  of  thy  mercy ;    teach  me  thy 
statutes. 

12  (Teth). 

65  Thou  hast  dealt  well  with  thy  servant,  O  Lord,  according 
unto  thy  word. 

66  Teach  me  good  judgment  and  knowledge  ;   for  I  have  be- 
lieved thy  commandments. 

67  Before  I  was  afflicted  I  went  astray ;  but  now  have  I  kept 
thy  word. 

68  Thou  art  good,  and  doest  good  ;  teach  me  thy  statutes. 

69  The  proud  have  forged  a  lie  against  me  ;    but  I  will  keep 
thy  precepts  with  my  whole  heart. 

70  Their  heart  is  as  fat  as  grease  ;  but  I  delight  in  thy  law. 

71  It  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted;  that   I  might 
learn  thy  statutes. 

72  The  law  of  thy  mouth  is  better  unto  me  than  thousands  of 
gold  and  silver. 

^  (Jul,). 

73  Thy  hands  have  made  me  and  fashioned  me  ;  give  me  un- 
derstanding, that  I  may  learn  thy  commandments. 


26  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

74  They  that  fear  thee  will  be  glad  when  they  see  me ;  because 
I  have  hoped  in  thy  word. 

75  I  know,  O  Lxdrd,  that  thy  judgments  are  right,  and  that 
thou  in  faithfulness  hast  afflicted  me. 

76  Let,  I  pray  thee,  thy  merciful  kindness  be  for  my  comfort, 
according  to  thy  word  unto  thy  ser\'ant. 

77  Let  thy  tender  mercies  come  unto  me,  that  I  may  live  ;  for 
thy  law  is  my  delight. 

78  Let  the  proud  be  ashamed  ;  for  they  dealt  perversely  with 
me  without  a  cause  ;  but  I  will  meditate  in  thy  precepts. 

79  Let  those  that  fear  thee  turn  unto  me,  and  those  that  have 
known  thy  testimonies. 

80  Let  my  heart  be  sound   in   thy  statutes ;    that   I   be   not 
ashamed. 

3  (Caph). 

81  My   soul   fainteth   for   thy   salvation;    but  I  hope    in  thy 
word. 

82  Mine  eyes  fail  for  thy  word,  saying,  When  wilt  thou  com- 
fort me? 

83  For  I  am  become  like  a  bottle  in  the  smoke ;  yet  do  I  nof 
forget  thy  statutes. 

84  How  many  are  the  days  of  thy  servant?  when  wilt   thou 
execute  judgment  on  them  that  persecute  ihe  ? 

85  The  proud  have  digged  pits  for  me,  which  are  not  after 
thy  law. 

86  All   thy   commandments   are   faithful ;   they  persecute    me 
wrongfully  ;  help  thou  me. 

87  They  had  almost  consumed  me  upon  earth;  but  I  forsook 
not  thy  precepts. 

88  Quicken  me  after  thy  lovingkindness ;  so  shall  I  keep  the 
testimony  of  thy  mouth. 

7  (Lamed). 

89  For  ever,  O  Lord,  thy  word  is  settled  in  heaven. 

90  Thy  faithfulness  is  unto  all  generations  ;    thou  hast  estab- 
lished the  earth,  and  it  abideth. 


PSALM  iig.  27 

91  They  continue  this  day  according  to  thine  ordinances;  for 
all  are  thy  servants. 

92  Unless  thy  law  had  been  ray  delights,  I  should  then  have 
perished  in  mine  affliction. 

93  I  will  never  forget  thy  precepts ;  for  with  them  thou  hast 
quickened  me. 

94  I  am  thine,  save  me ;  for  I  have  sought  thy  precepts. 

95  The  wicked  have  waited  for  me  to  destroy  me ;  but  I  will 
consider  thy  testimonies. 

96  I  have  seen  an  end  of  all  perfection ;  but  thy  command- 
ment is  exceeding  broad. 

a  (Mem). 

97  O  how  love  I  thy  law  !  it  is  my  meditation  all  the  day. 

98  Thou  through  thy  commandments  hast  made  me  wiser  than 
mine  enemies  ;  for  they  are  ever  with  me. 

99  I  have  more  understanding  than  all  my  teachers ;  for  thy 
testimonies  are  my  meditation. 

100  I  understand  more  than  the  ancients,  because  I  keep  thy 
precepts. 

10 1  I  have  refrained  my  feet  from  every  evil  way,  that  I  might 
keep  thy  word. 

102  I  have  not  departed  from  thy  judgments ;   for  thou  hast 
taught  me. 

103  How  sweet  are   thy  words  unto  my  taste  !    yea,  sweeter 
than  honey  to  my  mouth  ! 

104  Through  thy  precepts  I  get  understanding ;    therefore   I 
hate  every  false  way. 

3  (Nun). 

105  Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet,  and  a  light  unto  my  path. 

106  I  have  sworn,  and  I  will  perform  it,  that  I  will  keep  thy 
righteous  judgments. 

107  I  am  afflicted  very  much  ;  quicken  me,  O  Lord,  accord- 
ing unto  thy  word. 

108  Accept,  I  beseech  thee,  the  free -will  offerings  of  my  mouth, 
O  Lord,  and  teach  me  thy  judgments. 


28  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

109  My  soul  is  continually  in  my  hand;  yet  do  I  not  forget 
thy  law. 

no  The  wicked  have  laid  a  snare  for  me;  yet  I  erred  not 
from  thy  precepts. 

111  Thy  testimonies  have  I  taken  as  an  heritage  for  ever  :  for 
they  are  the  rejoicing  of  my  heart. 

112  I  have  inclined  my  heart  to  perform  thy  statutes  alway, 
even  unto  the  end. 

D  (Samech). 

113  I  hate  vain  thoughts ;  but  thy  law  do  I  love. 

114  Thou  art  my  hiding  place  and  my  shield;  I  hope  in  thy 
word. 

115  Depart  from  me,  ye  evildoers;  for  I  will  keep  the  com- 
mandments of  my  God. 

116  Uphold  me  according  unto  thy  word,  that  I  may  live ;  and 
let  me  not  be  ashamed  of  my  hope. 

117  Hold  thou  me  up,  and  I  shall  be  safe ;  and  I  will  have 
respect  unto  thy  statutes  continually. 

118  Thou  hast  trodden  down  all  them  that  err  from  thy  stat- 
utes ;  for  their  deceit  is  falsehood. 

119  Thou  puttest  away  all  the  wicked  of  the  earth  like  dross ; 
therefore  I  love  thy  testimonies. 

1 20  My  flesh  trembleth  for  fear  of  thee ;  and  I  am  afraid  of 
thy  judgments. 

^  (AIN). 

121  I  have  done  judgment  and  justice ;  leave  me  not  to  mine 
oppressors. 

122  Be  surety  for  thy  servant  for  good;  let  not  the  proud 
oppress  me. 

123  Mine  eyes  fail  for  thy  salvation,  and  for  the  word  of  thy 
righteousness. 

1 24  Deal  with  thy  servant  according  unto  thy  mercy,  and  teach 
me  thy  statutes. 

125  I  am  thy  servant;  give  me  understanding,  that  I  may 
know  thy  testimonies. 


rSA/  Af  iig.  29 

126  It  is  time  for  thee,  Lord,  to  work;  for  they  have  made 
void  thy  law. 

127  Therefore    I    love   thy  commandments  above    gold;  yea, 
above  fine  gold. 

128  Therefore  I  esteem  all  thy  precepts  concerning  all  things 
to  be  right ;  and  I  hate  every  false  way. 

129  Thy  testimonies  are   wonderful;    therefore  doth  my  soul 
keep  them. 

130  The  entrance  of  thy  words  giveth  light;  it  giveth  under- 
standing unto  the  simple. 

131  1  opened  my  mouth,  and  panted;  for  I  longed   for  thy 
commandments. 

132  Look  thou  upon  me,  and  be  merciful  unto   me,  as  thou 
usest  to  do  unto  those  that  love  thy  name. 

133  Order  my  steps  in  thy  word  ;  and  let  not  any  ini(iuity  have 
dominion  over  me. 

134  Deliver  me  from  the  oppression  of  man  ;    so  will   I  keep 
thy  precepts. 

135  Make  thy  face  to  shine  upon  thy  ser\ant ;  and  teach  me 
thy  statutes. 

136  Rivers  of  waters  run  down  mine  eyes,  because  they  keep 
not  thy  law. 

IC   (TZAI.DI). 

137  Righteous  art  thou,  O    Lord,  and   upright   arc   thy  jmlg- 
ments. 

138  Thy  testimonies  that  thou   hast  coinuuuulcd  are   righteous 
and  very  faithful. 

139  My  zeal  hath  consumed   me,   because  mine  encmich  have 
forgotten  thy  words. 

140  Thy  word  is  very  pure  ;  therefore  thv  servant  Imeth  it. 

141  I  am  small  and  despised  :  yet  do  nc  t  I  forget  thy  precepts. 

142  Thy  righteousness  is  an  everlasting  righteousness,  and  thy 
law  is  the  truth. 


30  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

143  Trouble   and  anguish  have  taken  hold  on  me;    yet  thy 
commandments  are  my  delights. 

144  The  righteousness  of  thy  testimonies  is  everlasting;  give 
me  understanding,  and  I  shall  live. 

p  (KOPH). 

145  I  cried  with  my  whole  heart;  hear  me,  O  Lord;  I  will 
keep  thy  statutes. 

146  I  cried  unto  thee;  save  me,  and  I  shall  keep  thy  testi- 
monies. 

147  I  prevented  the  dawning  of  the  morning,  and  cried;   I 
hoped  in  thy  word. 

148  Mine  eyes  prevent  the  night  watches,  that  I  might  meditate 
in  thy  word. 

149  Hear  my  voice  according    unto    thy  lovingkindness ;    O 
Lord,  quicken  me  according  to  thy  judgment. 

150  They  draw  nigh  that  follow  after  mischief;  they  are  far 
from  thy  law. 

151  Thou  art  near,  O  Lord;  and  all  thy  commandments  are 
truth. 

152  Concerning  thy  testimonies,  I  have  known  of  old  that  thou 
hast  founded  them  for  ever. 

■)  (Resh). 

153  Consider  mine  affliction,  and  deliver  me;    for  I  do  not 
forget  thy  law. 

154  Plead  my  cause,  and  deliver  me;  quicken  me  according  to 
thy  word. 

155  Salvation  is  far  from  the  wicked;  for  they  seek  not  thy 
statutes. 

156  Great  are  thy  tender  mercies,  O  Lord  ;  quicken  me  accord- 
ing to  thy  judgments. 

157  Many  are  my  persecutors  and  mine  enemies ;  yet  do  I  not 
decline  from  thy  testimonies. 

158  I  beheld  the  transgressors,  and  was  grieved ;  because  they 
kept  not  thy  word. 


HEAAJV.  Ixvii 

are  the  languages  of  abstraction  ami  metaphysics,  comparcfl  with 
those  of  realism  and  sensuousness.  With  their  marvelous  flexibil- 
ity, their  variety  of  inflections,  their  delicate  particles,  their  com- 
pound words,  and  especially  because  of  the  admirable  secret  of 
inversion,  which  allows  the  natural  order  of  ideas  to  l)e  changed 
without  injury  to  the  determination  of  grammatical  relations,  the 
Aryan  languages  lead  us  directly  into  complete  idealism,  and  in- 
duce us  to  regard  the  creation  of  language  as  d  fact  essentially 
transcendental 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  we  considered  only  the  Semitic  languages, 
we  might  be  tempted  to  believe  that  sensation  alone  presided  at 
the  first  movements  of  human  thought,  and  that  language  was  in 
the  beginning  only  a  kind  of  reflex  of  the  external  world.  In 
running  over  the  list  of  Semitic  roots,  we  scarcely  encounter  a 
single  one  which  does  not  ofier  a  primary  material  sense,  ap- 
plied, by  transitions  more  or  less  direct,  to  intellectual  objects. 
Is  it  a  feeling  of  the  soul  which  is  to  be  expressed,  recourse  is  had 
to  the  organic  movement  which  is  usually  its  sign.  Thus  anger  is 
expressed  in  Hebrew  in  a  multitude  of  ways,  all  alike  picturesque, 
and  all  derived  from  physiological  circumstances.  Now  the  meta- 
phor is  taken  from  the  rapid  and  animated  breathing  which  accom- 
panies passion  ' ;  now  from  heat,  or  from  ebullition  ;  now  from  the 
action  of  breaking  with  a  crash  ;  now  from  shuddering.  Dejection 
and  despair  are  expressed  in  this  language  by  internal  liquefac- 
tion, the  dissolution  of  the  heart ;  fear,  by  the  loosing  of  the  reins. 
Pride  is  depicted  by  the  elevation  of  the  head,  a  tall  and  erect  stat- 
ure. Patience  is  a  long  breathing,  impatience  a  short.  Desire  is 
thirst  or  paleness.  Pardon  is  expressed  by  a  host  of  metaphors 
borrowed  from  the  idea  of  covering,  concealing,  passing  over  a 
sin  a  coating  which  blots  it  out.  In  the  Book  of  Job,  (iod  sews 
up  sins  in  a  bag,  affixes  his  seal,  then  casts  it  behind  his  back, 
and  all  this  to  signify  forgetting.  To  shake  the  head,  look  upon 
one  another,  let  fall  one's  arms,  are  expressions  which  Hebrew 
much  prefers  to  all  our  psychological  terms  for  the  rendering  of 
disdain,  indecision,  and  despondency.  AVe  may  even  say  that 
'  The  Hebrew  rooU,  adduced  by  the  author,  are  here  omitted.  —  Eu. 


Ixviii  ILLUSTRATIVE    COMMENTS. 

such  psychological  terms  are  almost  totally  wanting  in  Hebrew,  or 
at  least  that  there  is  always  added  the  portrayal  of  the  auendant 
physical  circumstance  :  '  He  grew  angry,  and  his  countenance  was 
inflamed  .  .  . ;  he  opened  his  mouth,  and  said,'  etc. 

Other  notions  more  or  less  abstract  have  received  their  symbol, 
in  the  Semitic  languages,  in  a  like  manner.  The  idea  of  the  true 
is  drawn  from  solidity,  stability ;  that  of  the  beautiful,  from  radi- 
ance ;  that  of  good,  from  rectitude  ;  that  of  evil,  from  deviation, 
from  the  curve,  or  else  from  stench.  To  make  or  create  was 
originally  to  carve  out ;  to  decide  anything  is  to  cut  across ;  to 
think  is  to  speak.  *  Bone  '  signifies  the  substance,  the  inmost  of  a 
thing,  and  serves  in  Hebrew  as  the  equivalent  of  the  pronoun 
'  self.'  I  am  not  ignorant  that  similar  facts  occur  in  all  lan- 
guages, and  that  Aryan  idioms  would  furnish  almost  as  many  ex- 
amples where  pure  thought  is,  in  the  same  way,  involved  in  a 
concrete  and  sensible  form.  But  what  distinguishes  the  Semitic 
family  is  that  the  original  fusion  of  sensation  and  idea  has  always 
been  maintained,  that  neither  of  the  two  has  thrown  the  other  into 
the  shade,  as  has  come  to  pass  in  the  Aryan  languages ;  in  short, 
that  idealization  has  never  taken  place  with  any  thoroughness, 
so  that  in  every  word  we  imagine  we  hear  the  echo  of  the  primi- 
tive sensations  which  determined  the  choice  of  those  who  first 
bestowed  the  names. 


[Aristotle,  Rhetoric,  Bk.  3,  Chap?  9,  Welldon's  translation.] 

By  a  jointed  style  I  mean  one  which  has  no  end  in  itself  ex- 
cept the  completion  of  the  subject  under  discussion.  It  is  dis- 
agreeable from  its  endlessness  or  indefiniteness,  as  everybody  likes 
to  have  the  end  clearly  in  view.  This  is  the  reason  why  people 
in  a  race  do  not  gasp  and  faint  until  they  reach  the  goal ;  for 
while  they  have  the  finishing-point  before  their  eyes,  they  are 
insensible  of  fatigue.  The  compact  style,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  the  periodic  ;  and  I  mean  by  a  period  a  sentence  having  a 
beginning  and  an  end  in  itself,  and  a  magnitude  which  admits 
of  being  easily  comprehended  at  a  glance.     Such  a  style  is  agree- 


PSALM  iig.  31 

159  Consider  how  I  love  thy  precepts;  quicken  me,  O  Lord, 
according  to  thy  lovingkindness. 

160  Thy  word  is  true  from  the  beginning  :  and  every  one  of  thy 
righteous  judgments  endureth  for  ever. 

tr  (Schin). 

161  Princes  have  persecuted  me  without  a  cause  ;  but  my  heart 
standeth  in  awe  of  thy  word. 

162  I  rejoice  at  thy  word,  as  one  that  findeth  great  spoil. 

163  I  hate  and  abhor  lying;  but  thy  law  do  I  love. 

164  Seven  times  a  day  do  I  praise  thee  because  of  thy  right- 
eous judgments. 

165  Great  peace  have  they  which  love  thy  law;  and  nothing 
shall  offend  them. 

166  Lord,  I  have  hoped  for  thy  salvation,  and  done  thy  com- 
mandments. 

167  My  soul   hath   kept   thy  testimonies;    and    I   love  them 
exceedingly. 

n  (Tau). 

168  I  have  kept  thy  precepts  and  thy  testimonies;  for  all  my 
ways  are  before  thee. 

169  Let  my  cry  come   near  before   thee,  O   Ix)RD  ;  give  me 
understanding  according  to  thy  word. 

1 70  Let  my  supplication  come  before  thee  ;  deliver  me  accord- 
ing to  thy  word. 

171  My  lips  shall  utter  praise,  when  thou  hast  taught  me  thy 
statutes. 

172  My  tongue  shall  speak  of  thy  word  ;  for  all  thy  command- 
ments are  righteousness. 

173  Let  thine  hand  help  me;  for  I  have  chosen  thy  precepts. 

174  I  have  longed  for  thy  salvation,  O  Lord;  and  thy  law  is 
my  delight. 

175  Let  my  soul  live,  and  it  shall  praise  thee  ;  and  let  thy  judg- 
ments help  me. 

1  76   I  have  gone  astray  like  a  lost  sheep  ;  seek  thy  servant  ;  for 
I  do  not  forget  thy  commandments. 


32  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 


Psalm  139. 


OLORD,  thou  hast  searched  me,  and  known  me. 
2  Thou  knowest  my  downsitting  and  mine  uprising ;    thou 
understandest  my  thought  afar  off. 

3  Thou  compassest  my  path  and  my  lying  down,  and  art 
acquainted  with  all  my  ways. 

4  For  there  is  not  a  word  in  my  tongue,  but,  lo,  O  Lord,  thou 
knowest  it  altogether. 

5  Thou  hast  beset  me  behind  and  before,  and  laid  thine  hand 
upon  me. 

6  Such  knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for  me  ;  it  is  high,  I  cannot 
attain  unto  it. 

7  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I  flee 
from  thy  presence  ? 

8  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there  ;  if  I  make  my  bed 
in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there. 

9  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  sea  ; 

10  Even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shall 
hold  me. 

11  If  I  say,  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me ;  even  the  night 
shall  be  light  about  me. 

1 2  Yea,  the  darkness  hideth  not  from  thee ;  but  the  night 
shineth  as  the  day ;  the  darkness  and  the  light  are  both  alike  to 
thee. 

13  For  thou  hast  possessed  my  reins  ;  thou  hast  covered  me  in 
my  mother's  womb. 

14  I  will  praise  thee  ;  for  I  am  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made  ; 
marvellous  are  thy  works ;  and  that  my  soul  knoweth  right  well. 

15  My  substance  was  not  hid  from  thee,  when  I  was  made  in 
secret,  and  curiously  wrought  in  the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth. 

16  -Thine  eyes  did  see  my  substance,  yet  being  unperfect ;  and 
in  thy  book  all  my  members  were  written,  which  in  continuance 
were  fashioned,  when  as  yet  there  was  none  of  them. 


PROVERBS  2.  33 

17  How  precious  also  are  thy  thoughts  unto  me,  O  God  !  how 
great  is  the  sum  of  them  ! 

18  If  I  should  count  them,  they  are  more  in  number  than  the 
sand  ;  when  I  awake,  I  am  still  with  thee. 

19  Surely  thou  wilt  slay  the  wicked,  O  God;  depart  from  me 
therefore,  ye  bloody  men. 

20  For  they  speak  against  thee  wickedly,  and  thine  enemies 
take  thy  name  in  vain. 

21  Do  not  I  hate  them,  O  Lord,  that  hate  thee?  and  am  not  I 
grieved  with  those  that  rise  up  against  thee  ? 

22  I  hate  them  with  perfect  hatred  ;  I  count  them  mine  enemies. 

23  Search  me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart ;  try  me,  and  know 
my  thoughts  ; 

24  And  see  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in 
the  way  everlasting. 


Proverbs  2. 

THE    WAYS   OF    WISDOM. 

MY  son,  if  thou  wilt  receive  my  words,  and  hide  my  com- 
mandn>ents  with  thee  ; 

2  So  that  thou  incline  thine  ear  unto  wisdom,  and  apply  thine 
heart  to  understanding ; 

3  Yea,  if  thou  criest  after  knowledge,  and  liftest  up  thy  voice 
for  understanding ; 

4  If  thou  seekest  her  as  silver,  and  searchest  for  her  as  for  hid 
treasures ; 

5  Then  shalt  thou  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  find 
the  knowledge  of  God. 

6  For   the   Ixdrd    giveth   wisdom  ;    out   of  his    mouth   cometh 
knowledge  and  understanding. 

7  He    layeth    up    sound   wisdom   for   the   righteous  :    he   is  a 
buckler  to  them  that  walk  uprightly. 

8  He  keepeth  the  paths  of  judgment,  and  preserveth  the  way 
of  his  saints. 


34  BIBLICAL  SELECTIONS. 

9  Then  shall  thou  understand  righteousness,  and  judgment,  and 
equity,  yea,  every  good  path. 

10  When  wisdom  entereth  into  thine  heart,  and  knowledge  is 
pleasant  unto  thy  soul ; 

1 1  Discretion  shall  preserve  thee,  understanding  shall  keep  thee  ; 

1 2  To  deliver  thee  from  the  way  of  the  evil  man,  from  the  man 
that  speaketh  froward  things  ; 

13  Who  leave  the  paths  of  uprightness,  to  walk  in  the  ways  of 
darkness ; 

14  Who  rejoice  to  do  evil,  and  delight  in  the  frowardness  of 
the  wicked ; 

1 5  Whose  ways  are  crooked,  and  they  froward  in  their  paths  ; 

16  To  deliver  thee  from  the  strange  woman,  even  from  the 
stranger  which  flattereth  with  her  words ; 

1 7  Which  forsaketh  the  guide  of  her  youth,  and  forgetteth  the 
covenant  of  her  God. 

18  For  her  house  inclineth  unto  death,  and  her  paths  unto  the 
dead. 

19  None  that  go  unto  her  return  again,  neither  take  they  hold 
of  the  paths  of  life. 

20  That  thou  mayest  walk  in  the  way  of  good  men,  and  keep 
the  paths  of  the  righteous. 

2 1  For  the  upright  shall  dwell  in  the  land,  and  the  perfect  shall 
remain  in  it. 

22  But  the  wicked  shall  be  cut  off  from  the  earth,  and  the 
transgressors  shall  be  rooted  out  of  it. 


Proverbs  3. 

THE    GAIN  OF   WISDOM. 

MY  son,  forget  not  my  law ;   but   let  thine  heart  keep  my 
commandments ; 
2  ¥ox  length  of  days,  and  long  life,  and  peace,  shall  they  add 

to  thee. 


PROVERBS  J.  35 

3  Let  not  mercy  and  truth  forsake  thee  ;  bind  them  about  thy 
neck ;  write  them  upon  the  table  of  thine  heart ; 

4  So  shalt  thou  find   favor  and   good   understanding    in    the 
sight  of  God  and  man. 

5  Trust  in  the  Ix)rd  with  all  thine  heart ;  and  lean  not  unto 
thine  own  understanding. 

6  In  all  thy  ways  acknowledge  him,  and  he  shall  direct  thy  paths. 

7  Be  not  wise  in  thine  own  eyes ;  fear  the  Lord,  and  depart 
from  evil. 

8  It  shall  be  health  to  thy  navel,  and  marrow  to  thy  bones. 

9  Honour  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and  with  the  firstfruits 
of  all  thine  increase  ; 

ID  So  shall  thy  bams  be  filled  with  plenty,  and  thy  presses 
shall  burst  out  with  new  wine. 

1 1  My  son,  despise  not  the  chastening  of  the  Lord  ;  neither  be 
weary  of  his  correction ; 

1 2  For  whom  the  Lord  lovcth  he  correcteth ;  even  as  a  father 
the  son  in  whom  he  delighteth. 

13  Happy  is  the  man  that  findeth  wisdom,  and  the  man  that 
getteth  understanding ; 

14  For  the  merchandise  of  it  is  better  than  the  merchandise  of 
silver,  and  the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold. 

15  She  is  more  precious  than  rubies;  and  all  the  things  thou 
canst  desire  are  not  to  be  compared  unto  her. 

16  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand;  and  in  her  left  hand 
riches  and  honor. 

17  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are 
peace. 

18  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold  upon  her.  and 
happy  is  every  one  that  retaineth  her. 

19  The   Lord  by  wisdom  hath  foimded  the  earth  ;  by  under- 
standing hath  he  established  the  heavens. 

20  By  his  knowledge  the  depths  are  broken  up,  and  the  clouds 
drop  down  the  dew. 

2 1  My  son,  let  not  them  depart  from  thine  eyes  ;  keep  sound 
wisdom  and  discretion  : 


36  BIBLICAL  SELECTIONS. 

2  2  So  shall  they  be  life  unto  thy  sgal,  and  grace  to  thy  neck. 

23  Then  shalt  thou  walk  in  thy  way  safely,  and  thy  foot  shall 
not  stumble. 

24  When  thou  liest  down,  thou  shalt  not  be  afraid ;  yea,  thou 
sha4t  lie  down,  and  thy  sleep  shall  be  sweet. 

25  Be  not  afraid  of  sudden  fear,  neither  of  the  desolation  of 
the  wicked,  when  it  cometh. 

26  For  the   Lord  shall  be  thy  confidence,  and  shall  keep  thy 
foot  from  being  taken. 

2  7  Withhold  not  good  from  them  to  whom  it  is  due,  when  it  is 
in  the  power  of  thine  hand  to  do  it. 

28  Say  not  unto  thy  neighbor,  Go,  and  come  again,  and  to 
morrow  I  will  give ;  when  thou  hast  it  by  thee. 

29  Devise   not    evil  against  thy  neighbor,  seeing  he  dwelleth 
securely  by  thee. 

30  Strive  not  with  a  man  without  cause,  if  he  have  done  thee 
no  harm. 

31  Envy  thou  not  the  oppressor,  and  choose  none  of  his  ways. 

32  For  the  froward  is  abomination  to  the  Lord  ;  but  his  secret 
is  with  the  righteous. 

33  The  curse  of  the  Lord  is  in  the  house  of  the  wicked ;  but 
he  blesseth  the  habitation  of  the  just. 

34  Surely  he  scometh  the  scomers ;  but  he  giveth  grace  unto 
the  lowly. 

35  The  wise  shall  inherit  glory ;  but  shame  shall  be  the  promo- 
tion of  fools. 


Proverbs  8. 

THE  INVITATION  OF   WISDOM. 

DOTH  not  wisdom  cry  ?   and  understanding   put   forth  her 
-    voice  ? 
2  She  standeth  in  the  top  of  high  places,  by  the  way  in  the 
places  of  the  paths. 


PROVERBS  8.  37 

3  She  crieth  at  the  gates,  at  the  entry  of  the  city,  at  the  coming 
in  at  the  doors  : 

4  Unto  you,  O  men,  I  call ;  and  my  voice  is  to  the  sons  of  man. 

5  O  ye  simple,  understand  wisdom  ;  and,  ye  fools,  be  ye  of  an 
understanding  heart. 

6  Hear ;  for  I  will  speak  of  excellent  things  ;  and  the  opening 
of  my  lips  shall-  be  right  things. 

7  For  my  mouth  shall  speak  truth  ;  and  wickedness  is  an  abom- 
ination to  my  lips. 

8  All  the  words  of  my  mouth  are  in  righteousness ;  there  is 
nothing  froward  or  perverse  in  them. 

9  They  are  all  plain  to  him   that  understandeth,  and  right  to 
them  that  find  knowledge. 

10  Receive    my  instniction,  and  not   silver;   and   knowledge 
rather  than  choice  gold. 

1 1  For  wisdom  is  better  than  rubies  ;  and  all  the  things  that 
may  be  desirecf  are  not  to  be  compared  to  it. 

1 2  I  wisdom  dwell  with  prudence,  and  find  out  knowledge  of 
witty  inventions. 

13  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  to  hate  evil ;  pride,  and  arrogancy, 
and  the  evil  way,  and  the  froward  mouth,  do  I  hate. 

14  Counsel  is  mine,  and  sound  wisdom;   I  am  understanding; 
I  have  strength. 

15  By  me  kings  reign,  and  princes  decree  justice. 

16  By  me  princes  rule,  and  nobles,  even  all  the  judges  of  the 
earth. 

1 7  I  love  them  that  love  me  ;  and  those  that  seek  me  early 
shall  find  me. 

18  Riches  and  honor  are  with  me;    yea,  durable  riches  and 
righteousness. 

19  My  fruit  is  better  than  gold,  yea,  than   fine  gold  ;  and  my 
revenue  than  choice  silver. 

20  I  lead  in  the  way  of  righteousness,  in  the  midst  of  the  paths 
of  judgment  : 

2 1  That  I  may  cause  those  that  love  me  to  inherit  substance  ; 
and  I  will  fill  their  treasures. 


38  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

2  2  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way,  before 
his  works  of  old. 

23  I  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  beginning,  or  ever 
the  earth  was. 

24  When  there  were  no  depths,  I  was  brought  forth ;  when 
there  were  no  fountains  abounding  with  water. 

25  Before  the  mountains  were  settled,  before  the  hills  was  I 
brought  forth ; 

26  While  as  yet  he  had  not  made  the  earth,  nor  the  fields,  nor 
the  highest  part  of  the  dust  of  the  world. 

2  7  When  he  prepared  the  heavens,  I  was  there  ;  when  he  set  a 
compass  upon  the  face  of  the  depth  ; 

28  When  he  established  the  clouds  above ;  when  he  strength- 
ened the  fountains  of  the  deep  ; 

29  When  he  gave  to  the  sea  his  decree,  that  the  waters  should 
not  pass  his  commandment ;  when  he  appointed  the  foundations 
of  the  earth ; 

30  Then  I  was  by  him,  as  one  brought  up  with  him  ;  and  I  was 
daily  his  delight,  rejoicing  always  before  him  ; 

31  Rejoicing  in  the  habitable  part  of  his  earth;  and  my  de- 
lights were  with  the  sons  of  men. 

32  Now  therefore  hearken  unto  me,  O  ye  children ;  for  blessed 
are  they  that  keep  my  ways. 

33  Hear  instruction,  and  be  wise,  and  refuse  it  not. 

34  Blessed  is  the  man  that  heareth  me,  watching  daily  at  my 
gates,  waiting  at  the  posts  of  my  doors. 

35  For  whoso  findeth  me  findeth  life,  and  shall  obtain  favor 
of  the  Lord. 

36  But  he  that  sinneth  against  me  wrongeth  his  own  soul ;  all 
they  that  hate  me  love  death. 


PROVERBS  12.  39 

Proverbs  12. 

THE  RIGHTEOUS  AND    THE    WICKED. 

WHOSO  loveth  instruction  loveth  knowledge ;  but  he  that 
hateth  reproof  is  brutish. 

2  A  good  man  obtaineth  favor  of  the  I^rd  ;    but  a  man  of 
wicked  devices  will  he  condemn. 

3  A  man  shall  not  be  established  by  wickedness ;  but  the  root 
of  the  righteous  shall  not  be  moved. 

4  A  virtuous  women  is  a  crown  to  her  husband  ;  but  she  that 
maketh  ashamed  is  as  rottenness  in  his  bones. 

5  The  thoughts  of  the  righteous  are  right ;  but  the  counsels  of 
the  wicked  are  deceit. 

6  The  words  of  the  wicked  are  to  lie  in  wait  for  blood  ;  but  the 
mouth  of  the  upright  shall  deliver  them. 

7  The  wicked  are  overthrown,  and  are  not ;  but  the  house  of 
the  righteous  shall  stand. 

8  A  man  shall  be  commended  according  to  his  wisdom  ;  but  he 
that  is  of  a  perverse  heart  shall  be  despised. 

9  He  that  is  despised,  and  hath  a  servant,  is  better  than  he  that 
honoreth  himself,  and  lacketh  bread. 

10  A  righteous  man  regardeth  the  Hfe  of  his  beast ;  but  the  ten- 
der mercies  of  the  wicked  are  cruel. 

1 1  He  that  tilleth  his  land  shall  be  satisfied  with  bread  ;  but  he 
that  followeth  vain  persons  is  void  of  understanding. 

12  The  wicked  desireth  the  net  of  evil  men;  but  the  root  of 
the  righteous  yieldeth  fruit. 

13  The  wicked  is  snared  by  the  transgression  of  his  lips;  but 
the  just  shall  come  out  of  trouble. 

14  A  man  shall  be  satisfied  with  good  by  the  fruit  of  his  mouth  ; 
and  the  recompense  of  a  man's  hands  shall  be  rendered  unto  him. 

15  The  way  of  a  fool  is  right  in  his  own  eyes  ;  but   he   that 
hearkeneth  unto  counsel  is  wise. 

16  A  fool's  wrath  is  presently  known  ;  but  a  prudent  man  cov- 
ereth  shame. 


40  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

I  7  He  that  speaketh  truth  showeth  forth  righteousness ;  but  a 
false  witness  deceit. 

1 8  There  is  that  speaketh  hke  the  piercings  of  a  sword;  but 
the  tongue  of  the  wise  is  health. 

19  The  lip  of  truth  shall  be  established  for  ever;  but  a  lying 
tongue  is  but  for  a  moment. 

20  Deceit  is  in  the  heart  of  them  that  imagine  evil ;  but  to  the 
counsellors  of  peace  is  joy. 

21  There  shall  no   evil   happen  to  the  just;    but  the  wicked 
shall  be  filled  with  mischief. 

22  Lying  lips  are  abomination  to  the  Lord  ;  but  they  that  deal 
truly  are  his  delight. 

23  A  prudent  man  concealeth   knowledge  ;    but   the  heart  of 
fools  proclaimeth  foolishness. 

24  The  hand  of  the  diligent  shall  bear  rule  ;  but  the  slothful 
shall  be  under  tribute. 

25  Heaviness  in  the  heart  of  man  maketh  it  stoop  ;  but  a  good 
word  maketh  it  glad. 

26  The  righteous  is  more  excellent  than  his  neighbor ;  but  the 
way  of  the  wicked  seduceth  them. 

27  The  slothful  man  roasteth  not  that  which  he  took  in  hunting  ; 
but  the  substance  of  a  diligent  man  is  precious. 

28  In  the  way  of  righteousness  is  life ;  and   in   the    pathway 
thereof  there  is  no  death. 


Isaiah  58. 

TRUE   AND   FALSE   RELIGION. 

CRY  aloud,  spare  not,  lift  up  thy  voice  like  a  trumpet,  and 
show    my   people    their    transgression,  and    the    house    of 
Jacob  their  sins. 

2  Yet  they  seek  me  daily,  and  delight  to  know  my  ways,  as  a 
nation  that  did  righteousness,  and  forsook  not  the  ordinance  of 
their  God  ;  they  ask  of  me  the  ordinances  of  justice  ;  they  take 
delight  in  approaching  to  (lod. 


ISAIAH  s8.  41 

3  Wherefore  have  we  fasted,  say  they,  and  thou  seest  not? 
wherefore  have  we  afflicted  our  soul,  and  thou  takcst  no  knowl- 
edge? Behold,  in  the  day  of  your  fast  ye  find  pleasure,  and  exact 
all  your  labors. 

4  Behold,  ye  fast  for  strife  and  debate,  and  to  smite  with  the 
fist  of  wickedness  ;  ye  shall  not  fast  as  ye  do  this  day,  to  make 
your  voice  to  be  heard  on  high. 

5  Is  it  such  a  fast  that  I  have  chosen?  a  day  for  a  man  to  afflict 
his  soul  ?  is  it  to  bow  down  his  head  as  a  bulrush,  and  to  spread 
sackcloth  and  ashes  under  him?  wilt  thou  call  this  a  fast,  and  an 
acceptable  day  to  the  Ix)Rd? 

6  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ?  to  loose  the  bands  of 
wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed 
go  free,  and  that  ye  break  every  yoke  ? 

7  Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  that  thou  bring 
the  poor  that  are  cast  out  to  thy  house?  when  thou  seest  the 
naked,  that  thou  cover  him?  and  that  thou  hide  not  thyself  from 
thine  own  flesh  ? 

8  Then  shall  thy  light  break  forth  as  the  morning,  and  thine 
health  shall  spring  forth  speedily,  and  thy  righteousness  shall  go 
before  thee ;  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy  rearward. 

9  Then  shalt  thou  call,  and  the  Ixjrd  shall  answer ;  thou  shalt 
cry,  and  he  shall  say,  Here  I  am.  If  thou  take  away  from  the 
midst  of  thee  the  yoke,  the  putting  forth  of  the  finger,  and  speak- 
ing vanity ; 

10  And  if  thou  draw  out  thy  soul  to  the  hungry,  and  satisfy  the 
afflicted  soul ;  then  shall  thy  light  rise  in  obscurity,  and  thy  dark- 
ness be  as  the  noon  day  ; 

1 1  And  the  Lord  shall  guide  thee  continually,  and  satisfy  thy 
soul  in  drought,  and  make  fat  thy  bones  ;  and  thou  shalt  be  like  a 
watered  garden,  and  like  a  spring  of  water,  whose  waters  fail  not. 

12  And  they  that  shall  be  of  thee  shall  build  the  old  waste 
places  ;  thou  shalt  raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  generations  ; 
and  thou  shalt  be  called,  The  repairer  of  the  breach,  The  restorer 
of  paths  to  dwell  in. 

13  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  sabbath,  from  doing  thy 


42  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

pleasure  on  my  holy  day ;  and  call  the  sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy 
of  the  Lord,  honorable  ;  and  shalt  honor  him,  not  doing  thine 
own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine  own 
words  ; 

14  Then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  I  will 
cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and  feed 
thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy  father ;  for  the  mouth  of  the 
Lord  hath  spoken  it. 


Matthew  5. 

THE  SERMON  ON   THE  MOUNT. 

AND  seeing  the  multitudes,  he  went  up  into  a  mountain ;  and 
when  he  was  set,  his  disciples  came  unto  him ; 

2  And  he  opened  his  mouth,  and  taught  them,  saying, 

3  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

4  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  comforted. 

5  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth. 

6  Blessed  are  they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteous- 
ness, for  they  shall  be  filled. 

7  Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy. 

8  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God. 

9  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the 
children  of  God. 

10  Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted  for  righteousness' 
sake,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

1 1  Blessed  are  ye,  when  men  shall  revile  you,  and  persecute 
you,  and  shall  say  all  manner  of  evil  against  you  falsely,  for  my 
sake. 

1 2  Rejoice,  and  be  exceeding  glad,  for  great  is  your  reward  in 
heaven ;  for  so  persecuted  they  the  prophets  which  were  before 
you. 

13  Ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth  ;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  his 


AfA  TTIIE  \V  s.  43 

savor,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted?   it   is  thenceforth  good  for 
nothing,  but  to  be  cast  out,  and  to  be  trodden  under  foot  of  men. 

14  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world.  A  city  that  is  set  on  an  hill 
cannot  be  hid. 

15  Neither  do  men  light  a  candle,  and  put  it  under  a  bushel, 
but  on  a  candlestick ;  and  it  giveth  light  unto  all  that  are  in  the 
house. 

16  Let  your  light  so  shine  before  men,  that  they  may  see  your 
good  works,  and  glorify  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven. 

1 7  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the  proph- 
ets ;  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 

18  For  verily  I  say  unto  you.  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one 
jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all  be  ful- 
filled. 

19  Whosoever  therefore  shall  break  one  of  these  least  com- 
mandments, and  shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  whosoever  shall  do  and  teach  them, 
the  same  shall  be  called  great  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

20  For  I  say  unto  you,  That  except  your  righteousness  shall 
exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in 
no  case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

21  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou 
shalt  not  kill,  and  whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger  of  the 
judgment ; 

22  But  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother 
without  a  cause  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment,  and  whoso- 
ever shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  coun- 
cil ;  but  whosoever  shall  say,  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell  fire. 

23  Therefore  if  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and  there  re- 
memberest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against  thee, 

24  Leave  there  thy  gift  before  the  altar,  and  go  thy  way  ;  first 
be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  and  then  come  and  offer  thy  gift. 

25  Agree  with  thine  adversary  quickly,  while  thou  art  in  the 
way  with  him  ;  lest  at  any  time  the  adversary  deliver  thee  to  the 
judge,  and  the  judge  dehver  thee  to  the  officer,  and  thou  be  cast 
into  prison. 


44  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

26  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  Thou  shalt  by  no  means  come  out 
thence,  till  thou  hast  paid  the  uttermost  farthing. 

27  Ye  have  heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou 
shalt  not  commit  adultery  ; 

28  But  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to 
lust  after  her  hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his 
heart. 

29  And  if  thy  right  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it 
from  thee ;  for  it  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members 
should  perish,  and  not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell. 

30  And  if  thy  right  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off,  and  cast  it  from 
thee ;  for  it  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  members  should 
perish,  and  not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell. 

31  It  hath  been  said,  Whosoever  shall  put  away  his  wife,  let 
him  give  her  a  writing  of  divorcement : 

32  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever  shall  put  away  his 
wife,  saving  for  the  cause  of  fornication,  causeth  her  to  commit 
adultery ;  and  whosoever  shall  marry  her  that  is  divorced  com- 
mitteth  adultery. 

33  Again,  ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said  by  them  of  old 
time,  Thou  shalt  not  forswear  thyself,  but  shalt  perform  unto  the 
Lord  thine  oaths ; 

34  But  I  say  unto  you,  Swear  not  at  all ;  neither  by  heaven,  for 
it  is  God's  throne  ; 

35  Nor  by. the  earth,  for  it  is  his  footstool;  neither  by  Jerusa- 
lem, for  it  is  the  city  of  the  great  King. 

36  Neither  shalt  thou  swear  by  thy  head,  because  thou  canst 
not  make  one  hair  white  or  black. 

3  7  But  let  your  communication  be.  Yea,  yea  ;  Nay,  nay ;  for 
whatsoever  is  more  than  these  cometh  of  evil. 

38  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said,  An  eye  for  an  eye, 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  ; 

39  But  I  say  unto  you.  That  ye  resist  not  evil ;  but  whosoever 
shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also. 

40  And  if  any  man  will  sue  thee  at  the  law,  and  take  away  thy 
coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also. 


MATTHEW  6.  45 

41  And  whosoever  shall  compel  thee  to  go  a  mile,  go  with  him 
twain. 

42  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee,  and  from  him  that  would  bor- 
row of  thee  turn  not  thou  away. 

43  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been  said.  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor,  and  hate  thine  enemy. 

44  But  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse 
you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which  de- 
spitefiilly  use  you  and  persecute  you  ; 

45  That  ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven ;  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the 
good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust. 

46  For  if  ye  love  them  which  love  you,  what  reward  have  ye  ? 
do  not  even  the  publicans  the  same  ? 

47  And  if  ye  salute  your  brethren  only,  what  do  ye  more  than 
others  ?  do  not  even  the  publicans  so  ? 

48  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect. 


Matthew  6. 

THE   SERMON  ON   THE  MOUNT. 

TAKE  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before  men,  to  be  seen 
of  them  ;    otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven. 

2  Therefore  when  thou  doest  thine  alms,  do  not  sound  a  trum- 
pet before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the 
streets,  that  they  may  have  glory  of  men.  Verily  I  say  unto  you. 
They  have  their  reward. 

3  But  when  thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what 
thy  right  hand  doeth, 

4  That  thine  alms  may  be  in  secret ;  and  thy  Father  which 
seeth  in  secret  himself  shall  reward  thee  openly. 

5  And  when  thou  prayest,  thou  shalt  not  be  as  the  hypocrites 


46  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

are  ;  for  they  love  to  pray  standing  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the 
corners  of  the  streets,  that  they  may  be  seen  of  men.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  They  have  their  reward. 

6  But  thou,  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and  when 
thou  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in  secret ; 
and  thy  Father  which  seeth  in  secret  shall  reward  thee  openly. 

7  But  when  ye  pray  use  not  vain  repetitions,  as  the  heathen 
do  ;  for  they  think  that  they  shall  be  heard  for  their  much  speaking. 

8  Be  not  ye  therefore  like  unto  them ;  for  your  Father  know- 
eth  what  things  ye  have  need  of,  before  ye  ask  him. 

9  After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye  :  Our  Father  which  art 
in  heaven,  Hallowed  be  thy  name. 

10  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in 
heaven. 

1 1  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 

12  And  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive  our  debtors. 

13  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil ; 
For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for  ever. 
Amen. 

14  For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your  heavenly  Father 
will  also  forgive  you  ; 

15  But  if  ye  forgive  not  men  their  trespasses,  neither  will  your 
Father  forgive  your  trespasses. 

16  Moreover  when  ye  fast,  be  not,  as  the  hypocrites,  of  a  sad 
countenance  ;  for  they  disfigure  their  faces,  that  they  may  appear 
unto  men  to  fast.     Verily  I  say  unto  you.  They  have  their  reward. 

1 7  But  thou,  when  thou  fastest,  anoint  thine  head,  and  wash  thy 
face ; 

18  That  thou  appear  not  unto  men  to  fast,  but  unto  thy  Father 
which  is  in  secret ;  and  thy  Father,  which  seeth  in  secret,  shall 
reward  thee  openly. 

19  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth 
and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break  through  and  steal ; 

20  But  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither 
moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not  break  through 
nor  steal : 


MATTHEW  6.  47 

21  For  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also. 
2  2  The  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye;  if  therefore  thine  eye  be 
single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light. 

23  But  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  dark- 
ness. If  therefore  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great 
is  that  darkness  ! 

24  No  man  can  serve  two  masters ;  for  either  he  will  hate  the 
one,  and  love  the  other,  or  else  he  will  hold  to  the  one,  and 
despise  the  other.     Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon. 

25  Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  Take  no  thought  for  your  life,  what 
ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink  ;  nor  yet  for  your  body,  what 
ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not  the  life  more  than  meat,  and  the  body 
than  raiment? 

26  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air,  for  they  sow  not,  neither  do 
they  reap  nor  gather  into  bams  ;  yet  your  heavenly  Father  feed- 
eth  them.     Are  ye  not  much  better  than  they  ? 

2  7  Which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one  cubit  unto  his 
stature  ? 

28  And  why  take  ye  thought  for  raiment?  Consider  the  lilies 
of  the  field,  how  they  grow ;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin  ; 

29  And  yet  I  say  unto  you.  That  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these. 

30  Wherefore  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which  to 
day  is,  and  to  morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he  not  much 
more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith  ? 

31  Therefore  take  no  thought,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat?  or, 
What  shall  we  drink  ?  or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ? 

32  (For  after  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles  seek  ;)  for  your 
heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things. 

33  But  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness  ; 
and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you. 

34  Take  therefore  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow 
shall  take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself.  Sufficient  unto  the  day 
is  the  evil  thereof. 


48  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

Matthew  7. 

THE  SERMON  ON   THE  MOUNT. 

JUDGE  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged. 
2  For  with  what  judgment  ye  judge,  ye  shall  be  judged  ;  and 
with  what  measure  ye  mete,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again. 

3  And  why  beholdest  thou  the  mote  that  is  in  thy  brother's 
eye,  but  considerest  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine  own  eye  ? 

4  Or  how  wilt  thou  say  to  thy  brother.  Let  me  pull  out  the 
mote  out  of  thine  eye  ;  and  behold,  a  beam  is  in  thine  own  eye  ? 

5  Thou  hypocrite,  first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye, 
and  then  shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy 
brother's  eye. 

6  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs,  neither  cast  ye  your 
pearls  before  swine,  lest  they  trample  them  under  their  feet,  and 
turn  again  and  rend  you. 

7  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ; 
knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you ; 

8  For  every  one  that  asketh  receiveth ;  and  he  that  seeketh 
findeth  ;  and  to  him  that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened. 

9  Or  what  man  is  there  of  you,  whom  if  his  son  ask  bread,  will 
he  give  him  a  stone  ? 

10  Or  if  he  ask  a  fish,  will  he  give  him  a  serpent? 

11  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that  ask  him  ? 

12  Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the 
prophets. 

13  Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait  gate;  for  wide  is  the  gate,  and 
broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many  there  be 
which  go  in  thereat  ; 

14  Because  strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way,  which 
leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  tliere  be  that  find  it. 


MATTHEW  7.  49 

15  Beware  of  false  prophets,  which  come  to  you  in  sheep's 
clothing,  but  inwardly  they  are  ravening  wolves. 

16  Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits.  Do  men  gather  grapes 
of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ? 

1 7  Even  so  every  good  tree  bringeth  forth  good  fruit ;  but  a 
corrupt  tree  bringeth  forth  evil  fruit. 

18  A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a  cor- 
rupt tree  bring  forth  good  fruit. 

19  Every  tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down, 
and  cast  into  the  fire. 

20  Wherefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them. 

21  Not  every  one  that  saith  unto  me.  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven. 

22  Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day.  Lord,  I>ord,  have  we  not 
prophesied  in  thy  name,  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out  devils, 
and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ? 

23  And  then  will  I  profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you  ;  depart 
from  me,  ye  that  work  iniquity. 

24  Therefore  whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man,  which  built  his 
house  upon  a  rock  ; 

25  And  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the 
winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house  ;  and  it  fell  not ;  for  it  was 
founded  upon  a  rock. 

26  And  every  one  that  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and  doeth 
them  not,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man,  which  built  his  house 
upon  the  sand  ; 

27  And  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds 
blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house  ;  and  it  fell  ;  and  great  was  the 
fall  of  it. 

28  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jesus  had  ended  these  sayings, 
the  people  were  astonished  at  his  doctrine  : 

29  For  he  taught  them  as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the 
scribes. 


50  BIBLICAL   SELEC'IIO.YS. 

The  Acts  26. 

PAUL  BEFORE  AGRIPPA. 

THEN  Agrippa  said  unto  Paul,  Thou  art  permitted  to  speak 
for  thyself.     Then   Paul  stretched    forth   the   hand,  and 
answered  for  himself : 

2  I  think  myself  happy,  king  Agrippa,  because  I  shall  answer 
for  myself  this  day  before  thee  touching  all  the  things  whereof  I 
am  accused  of  the  Jews, 

3  Especially  because  I  know  thee  to  be  expert  in  all  customs 
and  questions  which  are  among  the  Jews  ;  wherefore  I  beseech 
thee  to  hear  me  patiently. 

4  My  manner  of  life  from  my  youth,  which  was  at  the  first 
among  mine  own  nation  at  Jerusalem,  know  all  the  Jews  ; 

5  Which  knew  me  from  the  beginning,  if  they  would  testify, 
that  after  the  most  straitest  sect  of  our  religion  I  lived  a  Pharisee. 

6  And  now  I  stand  and  am  judged  for  the  hope  of  the  promise 
made  of  God  unto  our  fathers ; 

7  Unto  which  promise  our  twelve  tribes,  instantly  serving  God 
day  and  night,  hope  to  come.  For  which  hope's  sake,  king  Agrippa, 
I  am  accused  of  the  Jews. 

8  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you,  that 
God  should  raise  the  dead  ? 

9  I  verily  thought  with  myself  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things 
contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

10  Which  thing  I  also  did  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  many  of  the 
saints  did  I  shut  up  in  prison,  having  received  authority  from  the 
chief  priests  ;  and  when  they  were  put  to  death,  I  gave  my  voice 
against  them. 

11  And  I  punished  them  oft  in  every  synagogue,  and  compelled 
them  to  blaspheme  ;  and  being  exceedingly  mad  against  them,  I 
persecuted  them  even  unto  strange  cities. 

12  Whereupon  as  I  went  to  Damascus  with  authority  and  com- 
mission from  the  chief  priests, 


THE  ACTS  at.  51 

13  At  midday,  O  king,  I  saw  in  the  way  a  light  from  heaven, 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining  round  about  me  and  them 
which  journeyed  with  me. 

14  And  when  we  were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice 
speaking  unto  me,  and  saying  in  the  Hebrew  tongue,  Saul,  Saul, 
why  persecutest  thou  me  ?  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the 
pricks. 

15  And  I  said,  Who  art  thou.  Lord?  And  he  said,  I  am  Jesus 
whom  thou  persecutest. 

16  But  rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet ;  for  I  have  appeared  unto 
thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister  and  a  witness  both 
of  these  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the 
which  I  will  appear  unto  thee ; 

17  Delivering  thee  from  the  people,  and  from  the  ("icntiles,  unto 
whom  now  I  send  thee, 

18  To  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light, 
and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  (}od,  that  they  may  receive 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  which  are  sancti- 
fied by  faith  that  is  in  me. 

19  Whereupon,  O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the 
heavenly  vision  : 

20  But  showed  first  unto  them  of  Damascus,  and  at  Jerusalem, 
and  throughout  all  the  coasts  of  Judea,  and  then  to  the  Gentiles, 
that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and  do  works  meet  for 
repentance. 

21  For  these  causes  the  Jews  caught  me  in  the  temple,  and  went 
about  to  kill  me. 

22  Having  therefore  obtained  help  of  (iod,  I  continue  unto  this 
day,  witnessing  both  to  small  and  great,  saying  none  other  things 
than  those  which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come  : 

23  That  Christ  should  suffer,  and  that  he  should  be  the  first  that 
should  rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto  the  people, 
and  to  the  Gentiles. 

24  And  as  he  thus  spake  for  himself,  Festus  said  with  a  loud 
voice,  Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learning  doth  make 
thee  mad. 


52  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

25  But  he  said,  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but  speak 
forth  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness. 

26  For  the  king  knoweth  of  these  things,  before  whom  also  I 
speak  freely ;  for  I  am  persuaded  that  none  of  these  things  are 
hidden  from  him ;  for  this  thing  was  not  done  in  a  corner. 

27  King  Agrippa,  believest  thou  the  prophets?  I  know  that 
thou  believest. 

28  Then  Agrippa  said  unto  Paul,  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to 
be  a  Christian. 

29  And  Paul  said,  I  would  to  God  that  not  only  thou,  but  also 
all  that  hear  me  this  day,  were  both  almost,  and  altogether  such  as 
I  am,  except  these  bonds. 

^o  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  the  king  rose  up,  and  the 
governor,  and  Bernice,  and  they  that  sat  with  them  ; 

31  And  when  they  were  gone  aside,  they  talked  between  them- 
selves, saying.  This  man  doeth  nothing  worthy  of  death  or  of 
bonds. 

32  Then  said  Agrippa  unto  Festus,  This  man  might  have  been 
set  at  liberty,  if  he  had  not  .appealed  unto  Csesar. 


I  Corinthians  13. 

LOVE  BEYOND  ALL    TII'NGS. 

THOUGH  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels, 
and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass,  or  a 
tinkling  cymbal. 

2  And  though  I  have  the  gift  of  prophecy,  and  understand  all 
mysteries,  and  all  knowledge;  and  though  I  have  all  faith,  so 
that  I  could  remove  mountains,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing. 

3  And  though  I  bestow  all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and 
though  I  give  my  body  to  be  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it  pro- 
fiteth  me  nothing. 

4  Charity  suffereth  long,  and  is  kind ;  charity  envieth  not ; 
charity  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up. 


/   CORLXTHIAiXS  is-  S3 

5  Doth  not  behave  itself  unseemly,  secketh  not  her  own,  is  not 
easily  provoked,  thinketh  no  evil ; 

6  Rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in  the  tnith  ; 

7  Beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things, 
endureth  all  things. 

8  Charity  never  faileth  ;  but  whether  there  be  prophecies,  they 
shall  fail ;  whether  there  be  tongues,  they  shall  cease  ;  whether 
there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish  away. 

9  For  we  know  in  part,  and  we  prophesy  in  part. 

ID  But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come,  then  that  which  is 
in  part  shall  be  done  away. 

11  When  I  was  a  child,  I  spake  as  a  child,  I  understood  as  a 
child,  I  thought  as  a  child  ;  but  when  I  became  a  man,  I  put  away 
childish  things. 

12  For  now  we  see  through  a  glass,  darkly,  but  then  face  to 
face  ;  now  I  know  in  part,  but  then  shall  I  know  even  as  also  I 
am  known. 

13  And  now  abideth  faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three;  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  charity. 


I  Corinthians  15. 

THE  RESURRECriOX  FROM    THE   DEAD. 

MOREOVER,  brethren,  I  declare  unto  you  the  gospel  which 
I  preached  unto  you,  which  also  ye  have  received,  antl 
wherein  ye  stand  ; 

2  By  which  also  ye  are  saved,  if  ye  keep  in  memory  what  I 
preached  unto  you,  unless  ye  have  believed  in  vain. 

3  For  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that  which  I  also  received, 
how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  scriptures, 

4  .^nd  that  he  was  buried,  and  that  he  rose  again  the  third  day 
according  to  the  scriptures, 

5  And  that  he  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve  ; 

6  After  that,  he  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at 


54  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

once,  of  whom  the  greater  part  remain  unto  this  present,  but  some 
are  fallen  asleep  ; 

7  After  that,  he  was  seen  of  James  ;  then  of  all  the  apostles  ; 

8  And  last  of  all  he  was  seen  of  me  also,  as  of  one  born  out  of 
clue  time. 

9  For  I  am  the  least  of  the  apostles,  that  am  not  meet  to  be 
called  an  apostle,  because  I  persecuted  the  church  of  God. 

10  But  by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am;  and  his  grace 
which  was  bestowed  upon  me  was  not  in  vain ;  but  I  labored 
more  abundantly  than  they  all ;  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God 
which  was  with  me. 

1 1  Therefore  whether  it  were  I  or  they,  so  we  preached,  and  so 
ye  believed. 

1 2  Now  if  Christ  be  preached  that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  how 
say  some  among  you  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  ? 

13  But  if  there  be  no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  then  is  Christ 
not  risen ; 

14  And  if  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and 
your  faith  is  also  vain. 

15  Yea,  and  we  are  found  false  witnesses  of  God,  because  we 
have  testified  of  God  that  he  raised  up  Christ ;  whom  he  raised 
not  up,  if  so  be  that  the  dead  rise  not. 

16  For  if  the  dead  rise  not,  then  is  not  Christ  raised  ; 

I  7  And  if  Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is  vain  ;  ye  are  yet  in 
your  sins. 

18  Then  they  also  which  are  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  are  perished. 

19  If  in  this  life  only  we  have  hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men 
most  miserable. 

20  But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the  first- 
fruits  of  them  that  slept. 

2 1  For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead. 

22  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive. 

23  But  every  man  in  his  own  order;  Christ  the  firstfruits,  after- 
ward they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming. 


/   CORINTHIANS  ij.  55 

24  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered  up  the 
kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father ;  when  he  shall  have  put  down 
all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power. 

25  For  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his 
feet. 

26  The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death. 

27  For  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  But  when  he 
saith  all  things  are  put  under  him,  it  is  manifest  that  he  is 
excepted,  which  did  put  all  things  under  him. 

28  And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  him,  then  shall 
the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things  under 
him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all. 

29  Else  what  shall  they  do  which  are  baptized  for  the  dead,  if 
the  dead  rise  not  at  all  ?  why  are  they  then  baptized  for  the  dead  ? 

30  And  why  stand  we  in  jeopardy  every  hour? 

31  I  protest  by  your  rejoicing  which  I  have  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord,  I  die  daily. 

32  If  after  the  manner  of  men  I  have  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus,  what  advantageth  it  me,  if  the  dead  rise  not?  let  us  eat 
and  drink,  for  to  morrow  we  die. 

33  Be  not  deceived ;  evil  communications  corrupt  good  man- 
ners. 

34  Awake  to  righteousness,  and  sin  not ;  for  some  have  not  the 
knowledge  of  God  ;  I  speak  this  to  your  shame. 

35  But  some  man  will  say,  How  are  the  dead  raised  up  ?  and 
with  what  body  do  they  come  ? 

36  Thou  fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened,  except 
it  die ; 

37  And  that  which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  that  body  that 
shall  be,  but  bare  grain,  it  may  chance  of  wheat,  or  of  some  other 
grain; 

38  But  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and  to 
every  seed  his  own  body. 

39  All  flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh  ;  but  there  is  one  kind  of  flesh 
of  men,  another  flesh  of  beasts,  another  of  fishes,  and  another  of 
birds. 


56  BIBLICAL   SELECTIOXS. 

40  There  are  also  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial ;  but 
the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the  terrestrial  is 
another. 

41  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  and  another  glory  of  the 
moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars ;  for  one  star  differeth  from 
another  star  in  glory. 

42  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown  in  cor- 
ruption, it  is  raised  in  incorruption  ; 

43  It  is  sown  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory ;  it  is  sown  in 
weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power ; 

44  It  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body. 
There  is  a  natural  body,  and  ther'e  is  a  spiritual  body. 

45  And  so  it  is  written.  The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living 
soul ;  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit. 

46  Howbeit  that  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but  that  which 
is  natural ;  and  afterward  that  which  is  spiritual. 

47  The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy;  the  second  man  is  the 
Lord  from  heaven. 

48  As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy ;  and  as 
is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are  heavenly. 

49  And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also 
bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly. 

50  Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit 
the  kingdom  of  God  ;  neither  doth  corruption  inherit  incorruption. 

5 1  Behold,  I  show  you  a  mystery ;  We  shall  not  all  sleep,  but 
we  shall  all  be  changed, 

5  2  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last  trump  ; 
for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised  incor- 
ruptible, and  we  shall  be  changed. 

53  For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and  this 
mortal  must  put  on  immortality. 

54  So  when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incorruption,  and 
this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality,  then  shall  be  brought  to 
pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory. 

55  O  death,  where  .is  thy  sting?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ? 


JAMES  4.  •   57 

56  The  sting  of  death  is  sin;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the 
law. 

5  7  But  thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

58  Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  stedfast,  unmove- 
able,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye 
know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 


James  4. 

SUNDRY  PRECEPTS. 

FROM  whence  come   wars  and   fightings  among  you?  come 
they  not  hence,  even  of  your  lusts  that  war  in  your  mem- 
bers? 

2  Ye  lust,  and  have  not ;  ye  kill,  and  desire  to  have,  and 
cannot  obtain ;  ye  fight  and  war,  yet  ye  have  not,  because  ye  ask 
not 

3  Ye  ask,  and  receive  not,  because  ye  ask  amiss,  that  ye  may 
consume  it  upon  your  lusts. 

4  Ye  adulterers  and  adulteresses,  know  ye  not  that  the  friend- 
ship of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God  ?  whosoever  therefore  will 
be  a  friend  of  the  world  is  the  enemy  of  God. 

5  Do  ye  think  that  the  scripture  saith  in  vain.  The  spirit  that 
dwelleth  in  us  lusteth  to  envy  ? 

6  But  he  giveth  more  prace.  Wherefore  he  saith,  God 
resisteth  the  proud,  but  giveth  grace  unto  the  humble. 

7  Submit  yourselves,  therefore,  to  God.  Resist  the  devil,  and 
he  will  flee  from  you. 

8  Draw  nigh  to  God  and  he  will  draw  nigh  to  you.  Cleanse 
your  hands,  ye  sinners ;  and  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double 
minded. 

9  Be  afflicted,  and  mourn  and  weep  ;  let  your  laughter  be 
turned  to  mourning,  and  your  joy  to  heaviness. 


58  BIBLICAL   SELECTIONS. 

10  Humble  yourself  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  lift 
you  up. 

1 1  Speak  not  evil  one  of  another,  brethren.  He  that  speaketh 
evil  of  his  brother,  and  judgeth  his  brother,  speaketh  evil  of  the 
law,  and  judgeth  the  law ;  but  if  thou  judge  the  law,  thou  art  not 
a  doer  of  the  law,  but  a  judge. 

12  There  is  one  lawgiver,  who  is  able  to  save  and  to  destroy: 
who  art  thou  that  judgest  another? 

13  Go  to  now,  ye  that  say.  To  day  or  to  morrow  we  will  go 
into  such  a  city,  and  continue  there  a  year,  and  buy  and  sell,  and 
get  gain ; 

14  Whereas  ye  know  not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow.  For 
what  is  your  life  ?  It  is  even  a  vapor,  that  appeareth  for  a  little 
time,  and  then  vanisheth  away. 

15  For  that  ye  ought  to  say,  If  the  Lord  will,  we  shall  live, 
and  do  this,  or  that. 

16  But  now  ye  rejoice  in  your  boastings;  all  such  rejoicing  is 
evil. 

17  Therefore  to  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it 
not,  to  him  it  is  sin. 


Revelation  5. 

THE  NEW  SONG. 

AND  I  saw  in  the  right  hand  of  him  that  sat  on  the  throne 
a  book  written  within  and  on  the    backside,  sealed  with 
seven  seals. 

2  And  I  saw  a  strong  angel  proclaiming  with  a  loud  voice.  Who 
is  worthy  to  open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seals  thereof ! 

3  And  no  man  in  heaven,  nor  in  earth,  neither  under  the  earth, 
was  able  to  open  the  book,  neither  to  look  thereon. 

4  And    I   wept  much,   because   no  man  was   found  worthy  to 
open  and  to  read  the  book,  neither  to  look  thereon. 

5  And  one  of  the  elders  saith  unto  me.  Weep  not ;  behold,  the 


REVELATION  S'  59 

Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Juda,  the  Root  of  David,  hath  prevailed  to 
open  the  book,  and  to  loose  the  seven  seals  thereof, 

6  And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  and  of  the 
four  beasts,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  elders,  stood  a  Lamb  as  it 
had  been  slain,  having  seven  horns  and  seven  eyes,  which  are  the 
seven  Spirits  of  God  sent  forth  into  all  the  earth. 

7  And  he  came  and  took  the  book  out  of  the  right  hand  of 
him  that  sat  upon  the  throne. 

8  And  when  he  had  taken  the  book,  the  four  beasts  and  four 
and  twenty  elders  fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  having  every  one  of 
them  harps,  and  golden  vials  full  of  odors,  which  are  the  prayers 
of  saints. 

9  And  they  sung  a  new  song,  saying,  Thou  art  worthy  to  take 
the  book,  and  to  open  .the  seals  thereof;  for  thou  wast  slain,  and 
hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every  kindred,  and 
tongue,  and  people,  and  nation ; 

10  And  hast  made  us  unto  our  God  kings  and  priests ;  and  we 
shall  reign  on  the  earth. 

1 1  And  I  beheld,  and  I  heard  the  voice  of  many  angels  round 
about  the  throne  and  the  beasts  and  the  elders ;  and  the  number 
of  them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of 
thousands ; 

12  Saying  with  a  loud  voice.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was 
slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and 
honor,  and  glory,  and  blessing. 

13  And  every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth, 
and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are 
in  them,  heard  I  saying.  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and 
power,  "be  unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb  for  ever  and  ever. 

14  And  the  four  beasts  said,  Amen.  And  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  fell  down  and  worshipped  him  that  Uveth  for  ever  and 
ever. 


60  BIBLICAL  SELECTIONS. 

Revelation  6. 

THE  SEVEN  SEALS. 

AND  I  saw  when  the  Lamb  opened  one  of  the  seals,  and  I 
heard,  as  it  were  the  noise  of  thunder,  one  of  the  four 
beasts  saying,  Come  and  see. 

2  And  I  saw,  and  behold  a  white  horse ;  and  he  that  sat  on 
him  had  a  bow ;  and  a  crown  was  given  unto  him ;  and  he  went 
forth  conquering,  and  to  conquer. 

3  And  when  he  had  opened  the  second  seal,  I  heard  the 
second  beast  say,  Come  and  see. 

4  And  there  went  out  another  horse  that  was  red ;  and  power 
was  given  to  him  that  sat  thereon  to  take  peace  from  the  earth, 
and  that  they  should  kill  one  another ;  and  there  was  given  unto 
him  a  great  sword. 

5  And  when  he  had  opened  the  third  seal,  1  heard  the  third 
beast  say.  Come  and  see.  And  I  beheld,  and  lo  a  black  horse ; 
and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a  pair  of  balances  in  his  hand. 

6  And  I  heard  a  voice  in  the  midst  of  the  four  beasts  say,  A 
measure  of  wheat  for  a  penny,  and  three  measures  of  barley  for  a 
penny  ;_and  see  thou  hurt  not  the  oil  and  the  wine. 

7  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fourth  seal,  I  heard  the  voice 
of  the  fourth  beast  say,  Come  and  see. 

8  And  I  looked,  and  behold  a  pale  horse ;  and  his  name  that 
sat  on  him  was  death,  and  Hell  followed  with  him.  And  power 
was  given  unto  them  over  the  fourth  part  of  the  earth,  to  kill  with 
sword,  and  with  hunger,  and  with  death,  and  with  the  beasts  of 
the  earth. 

9  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under  the  altar 
the  souls  of  them  that  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for 
the  testimony  which  they  held  ; 

10  And  they  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  How  long, 
O  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood 
on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ? 


REVELATIOX  6.  61 

1 1  And  white  robes  were  given  unto  every  one  of  them  ;  and  it 
was  said  unto  them,  that  they  should  rest  yet  for  a  Httle  season, 
until  their  fellowservants  also  and  their  brethren,  that  should  be 
killed  as  they  were,  should  be  fulfilled. 

12  And  I  beheld  when  he  had  opened  the  sixth  seal,  and  lo, 
there  was  a  great  earthquake ;  and  the  sun  became  black  as 
sackcloth  of  hair,  and  the  moon  became  as  blood ; 

13  And  the  stars  of  heaven  fell  unto  the  earth,  even  as  a 
fig  tree  casteth  her  untimely  figs,  when  she  is  shaken  of  a  mighty 
wind. 

14  And  the  heaven  departed  as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled 
together ;  and  every  mountain  and  island  were  moved  out  of  their 
places. 

15  And  when  the  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  great  men,  and 
the  rich  men,  and  the  chief  captains,  and  the  mighty  men,  and 
every  bondman,  and  every  free  man,  hid  themselves  in  the  dens 
and  in  the  rocks  of  the  mountains  ; 

16  And  said  to  the  mountains  and  rocks,  Fall  on  us,  and  hide 
us  from  the  face  of  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  from  the 
wrath  of  the  Lamb  ; 

1 7  For  the  great  day  of  his  wrath  is  come,  and  who  shall  be 
able  to  stand? 


UC SOUTHERN  RF 


AA      000  061774 


s 


